


Don't Ask Me Why

by SangoChan2



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 04:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SangoChan2/pseuds/SangoChan2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Right by Your Side

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Chapter 1: Right by Your Side

Ori looked carefully around at the sleeping dwarves and - making sure that everyone sharing Mr.Baggins’s guest room with him was deeply asleep - pulled one of his mitts down. He looked at his wrist and took a deep breath. The hobbit hole was comfortably warm and he had gotten some strange looks when he insisted on sleeping with his mitts on but there was no other way how to hide a sprained wrist from his overly-protective brothers.

He moved his hand a little. It hurt and by now was badly swollen. He sighed again, this is what you get when somebody unexpectedly opens the door and you have a bunch of dwarves fall on top of  you. Most importantly Bombur. Ori didn’t even notice he hurt himself until he tried to get up. The moment he leaned on his right hand pain ran through him. 

He just had time to think that he mustn’t let his brothers know unless he wanted unnecessary fuss and everyone looking at him like he was a useless child. Again. A child who gets hurt before the adventure even begins.

But then suddenly Bombur flew away from him and Ori looked up to see that he was roughly picked up and pushed aside by Dwalin. Master Dwalin. The Mister Dwalin. The last one to whom he wanted to look like a baby. Dwalin stood above him frowning as usual. Ori jerked his injured hand from the floor and shoved it behind his back. If it has started swelling already... well, he wasn’t going to let anyone know.

Dwalin’s gaze followed Ori’s strange movement but he didn’t comment in any way. Instead he bent down, grabbed Ori by the shoulders, straightened him up and turned to greet Gandalf. Ori gazed at the floor where he still had his bag, pain in hand forgotten. The only sensation currently reaching his mind was the tingle on his shoulders where Dwalin held him... Dwalin’s strong warrior hands... Holding him... And looking at him somehow... Ori couldn’t describe the look in Dwalin’s eyes...

'You all right there, laddie?' Bombur’s voice beside him.

Ori blinked rapidly, returning back to reality, immediately turning red. He must stop getting into these daydreams. Out there in the wild it could cost him or someone else a life. Yes, definitely, he must stop that. But the thing was... it happened to him more often when Master Dwalin was around. He couldn’t help it. Around the older dwarf he always felt so confused.

He had decided some time ago, that it was because he wanted to be more like the warrior. He wanted to be as strong and courageous as him. Just as brave. People do get nervous around their object of admiration, don’t they? Yes, that must be it.

'Yes,' he answered to Bombur who helped him collect his bags. He was suddenly glad about his injured hand. Master Dwalin has many scars and he had been injured many times. He wouldn’t fuss about a sprained wrist. He wouldn’t let his brothers nurse the injury and treat him like a child. Well, neither would he then! The older dwarf will never know about his bravery like this, of course, but Ori himself will feel one step closer to deserving Dwalin’s approval. His spirit much elevated by this thought, he smiled and followed Bombur into the hobbit’s kitchen.

It was a nice evening, they ate, sang, told stories of old and with the only exception of Mr. Baggins refusing to be their burglar, all went well. Soon after midnight they scattered across the hobbit hole and prepared for sleep. It was only then when Ori remembered his hand and insisted on keeping his mitts.  Naturally he got strange looks and ended up on the floor between Nori and Dori, with Oin and Gloin behind their heads.

Ori sat there for a while, thinking, his hand hurting more and more. Finally, after reaching the decision that even Master Dwalin surely didn’t leave his injuries unattended, he crept out of his cloak and then out of the room in search of cold water to ease the heat that was currently spreading through his wrist. Ice would be nice, but he didn’t know whether Mr. Baggins had any. He stopped by the door leading to the hobbit’s bedroom and considered for a minute waking him but then decided that the poor lad had had enough today and deserved his rest.

He sneaked into the kitchen, stepping over Bofur, who was snoring loudly on the kitchen’s carpet, his head on one of his brothers legs as Bombur was currently sleeping under the table. Ori looked around but there was no water. Not cold one at least. And then he remembered that he had seen a barrel in the garden. There was bound to be some rain water and it was rather cold outside earlier...

He opened the main door quietly and stepped outside, spotting the barrel immediately.

'Where you off to?'

Poor Ori nearly jumped out of his skin as a voice spoke in total darkness. He turned around and saw that there was a tiny bench right under one of the windows. And there sat none other then Dwalin, smoking a pipe. Ori felt his own heart pounding louder then anything. He simply knew that Master Dwalin must hear it too. He suddenly wondered if there will ever come time when he will feel like anything else than nothing next to the warrior.

'Well?' Dwalin prompted in his rough voice.

'To...' Ori pointed to the barrel, then stopped himself realizing that he couldn’t  possibly tell Dwalin. Dammit, dammit, dammit. This most definitely wasn’t his day. 'Um...'

Dwalin sat looking at him for a while, then set his pipe aside, stood up and walked towards Ori. With an unexpected and fast motion he reached for his hand. 'Your hand still hurts, huh?' He brought the little dwarf’s wrist to his eyes. Ori winced at the anticipated pain but it didn’t hurt at all. Dwalin’s huge calloused hands held his tiny one incredibly gently. He had warm arms. So warm. Ori wondered why it never occured to him, that Dwalin’s skin is also warm. Like his. Well, it is to be expected, really. They are both dwarves, both alive, both m... He realized Dwalin was asking him someting so he raised his eyes to his questioningly.

'I asked why you didn’t ask anyone to treat it for you?' Ori was pretty sure to hear impatience with him in Dwalin’s voice but there was nothing like that there. There was only concern. For him? For the well-being  of the company surely. Any injury would slow them down. He didn’t want that. He didn’t realize...

'I’m sorry,' he lowered his eyes to where Dwalin’s hands were holding his. 'It... it doesn’t hurt that much, not at all, really...'

'Humph,' Dwalin barely grunted and turned to the barrel, leading the little dwarf with him. Getting Ori’s sleeve out of the way, he slowly immersed his hand in the cold water. Ori gasped at the comfort it brought. Bliss. The pain slowly fading away.

'Well, we can’t have you standing here all night with one hand in a barrel, ' said Dwalin suddenly and disappered through the door. He was back before Ori could even think about where he has gone. He held a bottle of some ointment. He took Ori’s hand out of water, dried it carefully and equally carefully applied the ointment. Then took a mitt that Ori was still clutching in his other hand and slowly pulled it on.

'There, that should do. The ointment doesn’t smell, so even Dori won’t be able to sniff it out and ask you about it.'

'T-Thank you,' Ori choked out. He was overhelmed. Master Dwalin treated his injury, he even knew that Ori didn’t want his brothers to know.

They stood like that for a while, side by side, until Dwalin turned, picked up his pipe and headed for the door.

 'But Master Dwalin!' Ori called and the warrior stopped and half turned, 'How did you know? About my hand? '

Dwalin turned to fully look at him, frowning. 'I do notice things, lad. You trying to hide them from me won’t do you much good. Do not think for one second that I do not notice.'

Ori staggered back one step, feeling his heart stop under the older dwarf’s fixed gaze. There was something in the way he said it... Surely Master Dwalin is only speaking about his hand. He cannot mean... He couldn’t possibly know...

But Ori knew. Deep down, he knew perfectly well why he was always so confused around Dwalin. Why his heart raced faster than anything else in this world when the warrior looked at him, talked to him. He kept telling himself that it was because he admired him so much but he knew... He could never admit... such thing was... Dwalin kept gazing at him in the darkness. Could he know? Was he merely talking about Ori hiding his arm from him earlier or did he notice something else as well? Something that Ori also tried to hide from him?

'You... you won’t tell my brothers, right?' He felt a sudden quiver of panic. If his brothers knew? What would they think? What would-

'Why would I?' there was a strangely kind expression on Dwalin’s face before he turned to walk through the round doors, 'get some sleep, laddie.'

And with that he was gone, leaving Ori more confused than ever.


	2. When Tomorrow Comes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question.
> 
> Chapter 2, in which Mr.Baggins reveals his secret, Gandalf knows everything (yes, everything!) and Elrond's pantry is ransacked. But above all, Ori and Dwalin :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheee, I didn't expect that so many people will like this! A huge thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! You are amazing, Dwori fans, love you all! :)

 

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Chapter 2: When Tomorrow Comes

Rivendell was certainly a rather pretty place, Ori had to admit that. Not of course as beautiful or noble as their very own dwarven halls of stone deep under the mountains but certainly pretty. It smelled nice, too, so full of flowers as it was. Ori had never seen  so many flowers before.

He looked around at his companions to find someone to share this thought with but everyone looked rather stern and tensed. That’s right, the elves were not really their friends. He should be on his guard like the others. They were sitting around the fire, that Bofur and Bifur fashioned out of some hideous elvish furniture ('We are actually helping them like this, trust me. Nobody could like something like this, ' explained Bofur to shocked Bilbo, waving a broken table’s leg for emphasis.) But then he caught the burglar’s eye and Mr. Baggins grinned at him. He seemed just as fascinated with Rivendell as Ori.  

'Would you like to have a walk with me, Ori?' the hobbit asked suddenly.

Dori’s and Nori’s heads snapped up immediately.

'Don’t go too far, though,' warned Dori.

'Don’t get too close to the elves, either,' added Nori.

Ori sighed, picking up his journal and following Mr. Baggins down the stairs.

*****

'Say, Mr. Baggins, would you mind if I drew a picture of you?' Ori asked as soon as they sat down on a wooden bench right next to a small waterfall.

The burglar’s face lit up, 'Not at all, not at all.' And up he jumped from the bench, crossing the small path and sitting on a fallen tree with Rivendell behind his back, all lit by the orange light of the setting sun.

Now that the picture was finished , Ori held it in his hands. He was watching Mr. Baggins’s expression on it. It seemed somehow... familiar. He looked up at the real Mr. Baggins, still sitting motionless on the fallen tree, the exact same expression on his face as on the picture.

Ori ran his fingers across the paper. It was as if he was looking at himself. At himself when he is looking at Master Dwalin.

He knew that sometimes he wasn’t careful enough and kept gazing at the warrior, lost in a daydream, looking like this. Perhaps... perhaps the hobbit was also in love. And that is why he didn’t want to leave his home. Because his beloved was there. Would he have agreed immediately if she was to join their company too? Just like Ori did once Dwalin’s name was mentioned? He knew there was no way he would stay at home. There was Thorin and Erebor too, of course, Ori knew the importance of their quest, but for him...

He glanced up at the burglar again, noticing that he looked more sad than a moment ago. Ori followed his gaze and at first he saw nothing, only tall trees with whispering leaves, the water falling down... but there on the rock by the stream, there was someone. It was getting dark but Ori recognized the ornaments on his cloak. Thorin was sitting there.

He turned slowly to the hobbit again. Was... was he watching Thorin? He must have, there was no one else there. But why was he so sad while doing so? Ori looked down at his picture, at Mr. Baggins’s kind and soft face.

'Mr. Baggins,' he said quietly and the hobbit looked at him, blinking rapidly, as if just woken from a dream. Ori opened his mouth but then realized, that he didn’t know what to say. His gaze still on the picture. There was no denying that Mr. Baggins was looking at Thorin with affection... could it be... He wanted to ask but didn’t know how. Didn’t know if he could. The hobbit might be angry with him. Or it might upset him, too...

He fidgeted with his pencil. No, Mr. Baggins wouldn’t get angry with him, he was very kind. They have spent so much time talking to each other, the hobbit telling him all about his Shire and the hobbits who lived there. And Ori would always listen and then write it down in his journal, or they would just walk next to each other in comfortable silence for hours, each lost in his own thoughts... they were kindred spirits in this way. Surely, Mr. Baggins wouldn’t get angry with him...

'Mr. Baggins, could it be...' he took a deep breath, fingers gripping his book so they wouldn’t shake so much, 'could it be that you care for Thorin?' There, that was a good question. Nobody could look for anything hidden in it; unless you were the one who knew there _was_ something hidden in it. And from the way various emotions ran across the hobbit’s face, Mr. Baggins understood precisely what Ori meant.

And for a moment he looked like he wanted to run away, but then he got up and nodded slowly.

'It is rather sad, isn’t it?' he smiled bitterly.

'Wha-' Ori started but was interrupted by a sudden and unexpected movement on the path.

'My dear lads, what are you talking about?'

Ori was fairly sure that he shrieked as Gandalf joined them with few swift paces, Mr. Baggins next to him looking equally alarmed. Gandalf stood there, leaning on his staff, the tiniest of smiles on his lips as he looked from one to another.

'You young ones,' he chuckled suddenly, 'always thinking that the way to happiness is so hard. Impossible sometimes... Now, I have naturally heard nothing of your conversation but let me tell you this - there's no shame in loving the person you love. It is of no importance whether it is a dwarf or a hobbit, a king, a warrior or a toymaker... a man or a woman. You two better keep that in mind.' He winked at them and without another word continued down the path to where Thorin sat alone, leaving one red-faced hobbit and one scarlet-faced dwarf behind him.

*****

When they got back to the fire another table was missing, the one Bombur was sitting on. Ori wondered what happened to it. Bilbo disappeared under his cloak almost instantly, before anybody got any chance to talk to him and stayed there, with his head buried underneath it.

Only Oin and Gloin were there, taking care of fire, so Ori sat down on his cloak, hugging his knees to his chest.

Could Gandalf be right? Was there really no shame in falling in love with a man? His eyes wondered to where Dwalin’s things were. His axes shining in the flickering light of flames. He wanted to touch them. He wanted Dwalin to touch him again.

The night after they have left Hobbiton, Thorin sent Dori and Nori to scout around their camp for enemies and while the others were busy preparing dinner Master Dwalin crouched beside him where he was seated on the ground. Not saying anything, he reached for Ori’s injured hand and pulled his mitt down. Looking at it carefully, he grunted with satisfaction and put some more ointment on it.

Then he sat there for a while, watching Ori’s hand in his, the light of the fire flickering across his face.

'It should be fine by tomorrow,' he said then, quietly and looked at Ori. Ori could feel the warrior's breath on his cheeks, they have never been this close. Strangest thing happened then. The whole world around him ceased to exist. It didn’t go anywhere, it just turned black and then disappeared. There was nothing. Nothing except him and millions of stars above him. And Master Dwalin. And Ori felt a sudden surge of heat and happiness spreading through him. The whole world has disappeared and he wasn’t scared at all. All he really needed was there with him. Master Dwalin. His eyes gazing into Ori’s and him knowing that Dwalin would never look into another’s eyes like this. Because there was no one else in their little black world. Ori was everything Dwalin needed, too.

'Not my damn fault!' Nori’s voice came from somewhere. Dwalin looked in that direction and the whole real world suddenly came back. The dinner was still being prepared and Dori and Nori were coming back from their scouting.

Ori looked back at Dwalin’s face. He didn’t want this. He wanted their strange little world full of stars back! Dwalin squeezed his hand lightly and went back to the fire. And only then did Ori realize that for that short moment Master Dwalin was holding his hand. Not just holding it so that he could treat his wrist, really holding it. Their fingers were intertwined. Ori could still feel it, could still feel the touch. And then at that same moment he realized that Master Dwalin won’t do the same thing tomorrow because his wrist will be completely healed by then. And that realization hurt him more than his wrist has ever done.

And now Gandalf was telling him that there was no shame in having these feelings.

But... But what good did it bring him when he knew Master Dwalin didn’t feel that way about him? For two days now the warrior didn’t even look at him.

Ori looked over at Mr. Baggins. He could only see his hairy feet, the rest of him still hidden under the cloak. Poor hobbit was just like him. In love with a dwarven warrior. But it did seem that Thorin cared for him even less than Dwalin cared for Ori. Maybe this was what the hobbit meant by saying that it was sad. Maybe in love like this one, you never get your love back. You can love whoever you want but they will never love you back. Is that how it was? He suddenly felt so sad that he could almost feel the prickle of tears in his eyes.

But right then Bombur, Bifur and Bofur appeared, arms full of food of all sorts - ham, sausages, smoked meat and something that smelled like liver paste. And behind them Fili and Kili, arms full of dusty bottles.

'Told yea, lads,' Bofur was saying as he was putting his load down, 'these elvish locks are useless.'

'And what a pantry they have! Mr. Baggins you should have seen that! You of all people would appreciate it,' added Bombur and they all roared with laughter.

And when the hobbit’s head appeared, gazing from under the cloak at all the food, Ori couldn’t help himself - he started to laugh as well.

Just then a tall figure blocked the fire light in front of him and there was Dwalin, his hand stretched, passing him a big yellow bowl. Ori grasped it with shaky hands and looked inside. And there, smelling deliciously, was a big pile of fresh golden chips. The exact chips he so desired during the official green supper but couldn’t find anywhere.

His heart overflowing with emotions, he opened his mouth to say thank you but Dwalin stopped him. 'Don’t mention it, ' he grunted and then sat down next to Ori with his own bowl full of meat.

And as he was looking at the chips, Ori thought about Gandalf’s and Mr. Baggins’s words. Perhaps the hobbit was right and he will never be with Dwalin... but perhaps Gandalf was right, who knew? But right now he had this moment and he was happy. This right here was almost like his dream.

Because Ori had one special dream. He wouldn’t let himself think about it often but he cherished it as something special. He dreamed of a time when Erebor was claimed back. He dreamed of a time when Thorin was on his throne and there was no more danger. No more battles in which warriors could get hurt. And in such time Dwalin comes home from his travels safe. He comes home to him. And Ori is waiting for him, they hug on the threshold, Master Dwalin nuzzling his face in Ori’s hair. And then they go inside, sit by the fire and the older dwarf tells him all about his journey, what he has seen, what he has heard, how much he missed him. And Ori falls asleep listening to Dwalin’s voice and Dwalin carries him to bed, then curls up next to him and falls asleep too. And in that dream Ori calls him 'My Dwalin' and Dwalin smiles at him and all is well.

And now, now the dream came true a little bit, didn’t it? Perhaps it was the beginning. Perhaps tomorrow... tomorrow another little part of the dream might come true.


	3. And Then Came Rain and Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 3, upon which I cannot comment without spoilers... Except maybe that the weather sucks, everybody is tired (including me), Gandalf takes charge and Thorin smiles (even if it's only for one second :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Fantti, Purityofsin, Sasheenka, GammaDot and charliechick117 for being an ultra-amazing support! You are great!

# Don't Ask Me Why

### And Then Came Rain and Dreams

They were leaving the Rivendell rather in a hurry, taking a path hidden by the trees to the mountains. They passed the fallen tree where only yesterday Ori drew a picture of Bilbo; now safely hidden in the dwarf’s journal. Gandalf had disturbed them then and now he was not with them.

It was all very confusing, the fast packing and leaving and the wizard missing. Thorin didn’t really explain any of it, but then he rarely did. Ori didn’t ponder about it too much since more pressing matters were occupying his mind.

First of them being the obvious - though unseen and unheard - quarrel between his brothers. Dori and Nori came back very late last night, when the feast was almost over. They appeared rather angry and haven’t spoken a word with each other ever since. Now Dori was marching at the front of their line, getting even ahead of Thorin and Nori was right behind Ori at the end. As far as Ori could remember this has never happened before.

The second thing that was on his mind was concern for Mr.Baggins. The hobbit looked profoundly miserable today. Ori didn’t know whether it was only the burglar being homesick and disappointed for leaving the Rivendell so soon without much rest or... that thing with Thorin. But he wanted to comfort him somehow. Anyhow.

Just as he looked at Mr. Baggins’s back in the middle of the line, the hobbit suddenly stopped and looked back at Elrond’s kingdom behind them. And Ori could see the look on his face - he looked ready to go back...

Another figure stepped out of the line at the front, long black hair being ruffled by the wind. He was too far for Ori to see his expression but he knew that Thorin was staring intently at the hobbit.

Mr. Baggins turned his head slowly at Ori when he reached him, looking like he wanted to say something. But upon seeing that the young dwarf was gazing somewhere ahead of him, he looked there as well. He saw Thorin and then they stood there like that for a moment, Thorin and Bilbo looking at each other, Ori’s eyes flicking nervously between them. He sure hoped Thorin wasn’t going to say or do something stupid that would promt the hobbit to dash down to Rivendell, never to come back. He liked Mr. Baggins and didn’t want him to leave.

And then Bilbo nodded a little with his head, more like to himself then to Thorin and got back in the line climbing up with the others. Ori didn’t really understand it but it seemed to him that the hobbit had come to some sort of conclusion. Later, Mr. Baggins would explain to him that at that moment he thought that it didn’t matter how Thorin treated him. He would still rather be with him, so that he could prove himself to the king then walk away and never see him again.

But for now Ori knew nothing of his decisions and he looked back at Thorin who bent his head down when the hobbit joined the line again; and it seemed to Ori that he had smiled a little. But he surely must have imagined that because Thorin never smiled.

Normally he would ponder about it but he got distracted. Thorin got in the line himself putting one hand on Dwalin’s shoulder as he was asking him something. Which brought Ori to the third thing that was on his mind. The most important one, really.

Thanks to the row his brothers had last night, not only had they refused to speak to each other, they also refused to sleep next to each other. Nori marched over to where his things were, grabbed them and moved over  to where Dwalin’s place was. As Dwalin was currently seated next to Ori it was the only vacant place.

'HUMPH!' grunted Dori, outraged as if what Nori just did was the greatest offence in the whole world. Then he in his turn grabbed his pipe and marched off into the shadows to calm himself, just as he often did.

'Well, at least pass me my cloak,' barked Dwalin and Nori threw it to him, before settling underneath his own in rather the same manner as Mr. Baggins did earlier that evening. All this was over within a minute but it took Ori another five to realize that he will in fact be spending the night next to Master Dwalin.

And as Dwalin wrapped himself in his cloak and turned on his left side with his back to Ori, Ori felt millions and millions of bubbles filling his chest. They made breathing rather hard but it wasn‘t uncomfortable. And then they started swirling around his heart making it pound faster and faster in a strange harmony with them and their sound filled his whole being with a quiet humming.

As he settled down for sleep (it took him considerably more time to get his cloak in the right position, given that his hands were shaking), he looked at the night sky full of stars... and knew that there was no way he would fall asleep.

He kept falling into uneasy sleep, waking every time one of his companions moved or a strange unknown sound could be heard. And then another nightmare would come full of dark scary creatures breathing black smoke and chasing him.

And then at some point during one of these nightmares he felt someone’s hand closing around his and he woke up abruptly, panting.

He was looking into Master Dwalin’s eyes, half-hidden by the darkness of the night. They lay on their sides facing each other, Ori’s small hand hidden beneath Dwalin’s big gentle one.

'There is no danger here,' Dwalin whispered, 'you need not to be afraid.'

'Master Dwalin,' Ori whispered back. He had a sudden urge to tell the warrior how much he cared for him. How much he loved him. He opened his mouth but Dwalin raised the hand that was holding his and tenderly stroked his cheek, thumb brushing his lips for a second before he put it back on his hand again.

'I know. Sleep now.'

And almost as if those words were an enchantment, Ori felt his eyes close and then he was falling into a deep and undisturbed sleep.

Now as they were marching up the mountains a queer silence fell upon the company. Each one of them lost in his own thoughts. That was good, Ori thought, because he could do the same without looking weird.

He touched his lips for a second. It never crossed his mind before but... surely if it was all right to be in love with a man, then... kissing him would be all right too, wouldn’t it? He dared to think about his cherished dream. Dwalin coming home and instead of just hugging him on the threshold, kissing him there too. Like others do... Caressing his cheek, smiling at him, then bending down and kissing him. He wondered was that would feel like...

'Ori, you all right? You’re all red,' Bofur has turned around and was looking at him curiously.

'U-uhuh,' Ori stuttered out, 'Ehm... just tired...'

'Yeah, well, we can't stop now. Need to find some shelter first,' Bofur shot a strange look at Dori before gazing at the sky and then turning around again.

Ori looked at the sky as well. It was full of huge black clouds and first raindrops were already falling. A storm had reached them and he hasn’t even noticed.

*****

He was standing on the narrow slippery path, water drenching him to the bone and the cold wind making him shiver. But nothing of that mattered because they have just very nearly lost Mr. Baggins when the edge of the path collapsed! And then Thorin too, when he jumped down to save the burglar.

Now that they have both been hoisted up to safety Thorin started yelling at the poor hobbit for not being careful enough. He could see Bilbo’s face, all dirty and bruised, looking at Thorin so sadly that it made him wonder if any of that rain pouring over Mr. Baggins’s cheeks weren’t really tears. It seemed to him awfully unfair, the way Thorin treated his burglar. He was more harsh to him than to any other member of the company.

'Thorin!' Dwalin’s voice echoed over the wind and Thorin’s angry monolog, cutting the king off in the middle of a particularly mean sentence. Thorin looked at his friend and then suddenly turned around with 'We need to find some cave and wait there for the wizard!'

They all slowly set out after him, even Mr. Baggins, his gaze fixed on the path and as close to the mountain wall as possible. Ori felt angry with Thorin. Why would someone as nice as Mr. Baggins fall for somebody so... so... But then again, when it came to saving the hobbit, Thorin didn’t even hesitate. It was so fast, the hobbit falling, the king jumping after him to catch him. If Thorin didn’t care for the burglar, then he certainly wouldn’t do something so dangerous... Right? He must remember to tell that to Mr. Baggins later, that was bound to cheer him up a little.

He made to move but then realized he couldn’t. When Mr. Baggins fell, he wanted to help but Dwalin who was walking beside him grabbed him and shoved him behind his back into safety. Ori haven’t even realized that the older dwarf did not let go of him this whole time. Was in fact holding him still. Ori was pressed against his hip, Dwalin’s arm around his waist.

He felt his cheeks getting warmer and warmer despite the terrible cold wind and rain and chanced a look at Dwalin’s face. The warrior was staring at the place where Biblo had nearly fallen down and did not move. It crossed Ori’s mind that perhaps he had forgotten he was still holding him.

'Ori,' he said suddenly in that quiet voice he seemed to have reserved only for him, without taking his eyes of the edge of the path, 'you shouldn’t... -'

'Oh dear! I thought I will never catch up with you, you are moving awfully fast when you want to!' and Gandalf was standing there, clutching his hat against the wind. 'Have the others find any cave yet? Good! Good!' And off he ushered them in front of him to a bend where the others dissapeared, meeting only Dori and Nori who ran back to find out where Ori was; each one thinking that he was with the other one and as they did not speak with each other they found out he was missing only when they were in front of the cave.

*****

Once inside the cave, Gandalf said he had had enough of Dori and Nori (who felt that after a whole day of silence now was a great time to tell each other what exactly was on their mind) and given that Thorin was extremely taciturn, took  on himself the duty of the leader and send them to take a watch at the entrance to the cave ('And for heaven’s sake keep it quiet!'). Turned down Oin and Gloin’s request to light a fire so they could dry their clothes ('It’s too dangerous, you fools!'). And demanded some peace and quiet to speak in private with Mr. Baggins ('Because he is the only sensible one here!' he said with a significant glare at Thorin.) Upon which he directed the hobbit to a far end of the cave where they now sat and talked in hushed voices.

Which left Ori in in the middle of the cave alone, deciding what to do. In the end he gathered all his courage and (admiring himself) moved slowly to where Dwalin’s cloak and axes were. Since he didn’t know where exactly Dwalin was, due to the darkness in the cave, he was not all that ashamed. He sat his cloak next to the warrior’s and laid on it.

He could hear the whispers of Gandalf and Bilbo; the snoring of Bombur, Bifur, Fili and Kili; the distant arguing of Dori and Nori; he had no idea where Bofur was; and then Thorin whispering something and Dwalin’s voice answering. He was with Thorin then...

And then he remember what Dwalin was telling him before Gandalf came. He said: 'You shouldn’t.' Shouldn’t what? And as he lay there only one thing came to his mind - you shouldn’t be feeling like this about me; you shouldn’t take some simple kind acts as declarations of something deeper;  you shouldn’t be daydreaming about us.

Ori sat up. Was that it? Dear god, was that what Master Dwalin was going to tell him? He was scared right to his core. Even if there was light in the cave he wouldn’t be able to see his cloak as he reached for it through all the tears that filled his eyes. He crept away quietly from Dwalin’s cloak, from his axes, then laid down again, clutching his own cloak, trying hard not to sob too loudly. He felt his cheekes burning with heat again, though for a different reason now, gasping for air as there seemed to be none left in him. He curled up and kept crying until he fell asleep from exhaustion.

He was not sure how long he slept when the coldness woke him. He was shivering, his clothes still wet and the cloak creased beneath him. His fingers were tingling, so he breathed on them. Then a cloak much bigger then his wrapped around him and somebody’s warm body pressed to his, one arm over his stomach. He stayed as he was until he stopped shivering; he could hear Bofur whispering to someone. He could hear Master Dwalin no more... he probably went to sleep, not knowing that Ori wanted to sleep there beside him. He wanted to talk to someone.

'Dori,' he whispered sleepily and turned around. Even though it was dark inside, he could still recognize his brothes and the one holding him was neither of them.

'Bofur’s just replacing him on the watch,' replied Dwalin, hugging Ori a little closer to him for warmth. Master Dwalin. Ori nuzzled his cloak, taking in his scent. He smelled like the earth itself. Then remembereing suddenly Ori tried to pull back a little but it was a weak attempt.

'You said...' his own voice was hoarse and sounded unfamiliar, 'you said you don’t want me...'

Dwalin stiffened and even in the dark Ori could see he was frowning. 'I never-'

'Outside,' blurted Ori, he couldn’t stop himself now, 'you said that I shoudn’t...'

And then Dwalin relaxed again and Ori could feel his rough fingers under his chin, gently forcing him to look up at him. 'I meant you should not risk your life. Ever. You wanted to help the burglar, I understand but it would be of no good to anyone if you fell with him. Don’t ever do that again. For anyone.' He let go of Ori’s chin and the younger dwarf buried his head in his chest. What a relief! Master Dwalin. Master Dwalin. Master Dwalin. He did care for him then!

'As for what you thought...,' the warrior continued but stopped himself looking for words. 'I never said I didn’t want you. But... I am much older than you, Ori...'

Ori could only hear the way Master Dwalin said his name, like an echo in his head. It was intoxicating. _I never said I didn’t want you_. That meant he wanted him, right? Ori felt... he didn’t know the right word for the state of happiness he was currently in. What did age matter?

And acting on impulse he snuggled closer to Dwalin and pressed his lips to his. It was a sweet and gentle kiss (that surprised the older dwarf more than anything else has ever done) and upon finding that Dwalin’s lips are soft and nice Ori did it again.

Only this time, this time Dwalin kissed him back. Master Dwalin. His Master Dwalin. He pulled him closer to himself and even though Ori thought he couldn’t possibly get any closer than that, his whole body ached for more contact with his strong warrior. Because he was his now. Just as Ori was his. One hand slipping behind Ori’s head and tangling his fingers in the younger dwarf’s hair, Dwalin pressed his forehead to Ori’s and sighed deeply.

'Ori,' he whispered and Ori smiled. He could bask in that sound forever. Dwalin kissed him again. It was as natural as breathing. There was nothing wrong about it. Ori wondered why he had spent so much time worrying that it was wrong. The way Master Dwalin’s breath mingled with his own, the softness of his lips, the gentle yet firm way he held him... Ori reached to touch his cheek, breath taken away when Dwalin moaned softly under his touch. It was a wonderful oblivion and there was nothing else. Encouraged, Ori let his hand wonder on Dwalin’s chest and then on his strong muscular shoulder, feeling his warm skin there. And again and again was he kissing the warrior and was kissed back just as eagerly. Eyes closed, all he could feel was Dwalin. He was everywhere around him and still that wasn’t enough. Ori wanted to touch him more, he wanted  to take off his shirt and touch every little part od Master Dwalin’s precious skin with his fingers. He wanted Dwalin to press him even closer and touch him, too. He wanted-

'What’s that?!' yelled suddenly Bofur’s voice. Gandalf’s staff illuminated the whole cave in a second and they all gasped. Right through the middle of the cave a strange crack was spreading quickly and before anyone of them could do anything, they were all falling.

And then there were goblins. Hordes and hordes of goblins. 


	4. Of Things Missing and Things Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 4, in which the dwarves are rather unobservant, Ori's not the only one blushing and Gandalf is obsessed with huge beds ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one's a little different... but I had to write it this way for certain reasons, so bear with me please :) And yet again a huge thank you to my little Dwori Fanclub^^

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Of Things Missing and Things Found

Dwalin stopped running the moment Gandalf did. That was certainly a close one, he thought, looking back and making sure that no goblins were after them. Only Bombur was still running and he soon reached the rest of the company, too.

There was no sound in the forest except for the frantic breathing of the dwarves. His first instinct was to make sure that Ori was all right and he looked over to where the young dwarf stood between his brothers. Dwalin scanned him for any serious injuries but could only see some light bruises. A relief spread through him and he made an involuntary step closer to him before stopping himself. He couldn’t very well march over there and hug him in front of his family now, could he?

Ori looked up at him, the same want to get closer in his eyes too. He looked scared and exhausted and Dwalin’s hand very nearly reached out for him. His little Ori. He will have to find a chance to comfort him later, when they got to safety.

'Where is Bilbo?' Gandalf’s voice thundered suddenly and as he turned to Thorin he added, 'Where is your hobbit?!' Thorin winced a little at the word _your_.

The hobbit really wasn’t there. Damn it all. They will have to go back for him and that wouldn’t be all that easy. Dwalin managed to save his axes but not much else. The others weren’t much better off either. He cast a quick glance at Ori and wondered whether there was any way to force him to stay here in relative safety instead of going back with them. He didn’t really like the idea of Ori in the vicinity of the goblins.

'Well what happened? When did you last see him?'

'I’ll tell you what happened,' Thorin next to him sounded more angry then ever. And on he went nearly yelling at Gandalf that the hobbit left them! And that it was to be expected! He never wanted to go in the first place!

And as he finished with 'We won’t see him again...', he shot a rather nasty look at Dwalin. And Dwalin sighed. Nobody else in the company would understand that look even if they noticed it, but he did... He lay a hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

As it was, he didn’t lie to Ori back at Hobbiton - he really did notice a lot of things. Certainly much more than the average dwarf (of which his companions were a good proof). He noticed long time ago at Blue Mountains how little Ori would always blush when he looked at him. How he would listen to everything Dwalin said without a breath. How he would shyly look at him for long moments, when he tought he wasn’t looking and then get a rather distant look, as if he was somewhere far away, in a place of his own and he knew he was thinking about him. Dwalin couldn’t explain it, he simly knew. He knew Ori was in love with him.

Back then he noticed that Ori was particularly crafty with small objects. He made the most beautiful buttons and brooches of all the dwarves in Blue Mountains, he could carve whole stories into them, even into the smallest ones. One day Dori was telling him about the brooch Ori made for his wife. He was half way through describing it when Dwalin realized that the story the brooch held was the very same he was telling them last time he visited. He remebered Ori sitting by the fire, his eyes glued to Dwalin’s lips as he recounted a legend he had heard on one of his travels. He felt a strange affection for the little dwarf then, for the first time. He thought Ori’s love for him would pass, first loves do tend to be fairly fleeting after all. But it didn’t. It didn’t.

And just like that, he now noticed the way their little burglar was looking at Thorin. Even more surprising given the way Thorin treated him. But he knew the king better than anyone else and understood his actions. He knew why Thorin was so rough with poor Mr. Baggins.

Thorin was alone most of his life. Even when surrounded by other dwarves, there still remained the fact that he will one day become a king and that made everyone treat him differently. With more respect, with more distance. There was always some sort of barrier between him and others. Thorin didn’t really mind - he didn’t know how to let anyone in but no one ever really tried so it didn’t matter. Fili and Kili might have ended up the same but at least they had each other. There was no one for Thorin back then.

But then Mr. Baggins came. He was honest and kind and gentle and most importantly earnest to prove himself to the dwarven king. He wanted to get closer to him. He was completely different from everything Thorin encountered so far and Dwalin thought it was precisely this kind nature of his that found its way to the king’s heart.

It did not bother Thorin that Mr. Baggins was not a dwarf, nor that he was not of noble birth and not even that he was a man. What bothered Thorin, scared him really, was that the hobbit might not love him back. He didn't know how to deal with that.

It did not help when Dwalin told him, that Mr. Baggins obviously had feelings  for him. He wanted some sort of proof from the hobbit himself. So he kept pushing him to his limits to see if he will leave him.

Thorin feared he may have crossed the line yesterday, when the hobbit nearly fell from the mountain. Of course he jumped down to save him, he would have done anything. But once in safety he got so angry from fear of losing him... And he directed it all at the poor hobbit, shivering, sad and scared in front of him. Had not Dwalin stopped him, god knows what else he might have said.

And now the burglar was gone and everyone was looking at Thorin strangely. They did not understand. The hobbit must have been taken by the goblins, that was obvious. Why on earth would he leave them? He had no reason to do so. And only Dwalin and Thorin knew that he had a very good reason indeed.

Dwalin caught Ori’s eye. Of course, he would know as well.

But then suddenly the hobbit appeared, just like that, out of thin air.

*****

Dwalin checked Thorin’s bandages and with a satisfied grunt went back to sit by the fire. Considering how tall the Carrock was, it was surprisingly warm, with no wind blowing up there.

Normally Oin would have treated Thorin’s injuries but as the poor dwarf had lost his ear-trumpet while fighting the goblins, he couldn’t hear all that much now and the king lost his patience with him within few minutes, demanding Dwalin took care of him. He was seated against a giant boulder, a little distance from the others who were busy preparing a dinner, which the eagles had so kindly cought for them (much to the gratitude of dwarves and embarrassment of Gandalf). The only difference from other days being that the burglar was now sitting by the king’s side, the two of them having a quiet conversation.

Dwalin smiled as he lit his pipe. When the hobbit appeared, everyone could see the immense relief on Thorin’s face and when he then spoke of helping them reclaiming their home, Dwalin was a little worried that the king might hug him right there and then in front of everyone.

And when the little hobbit then stood between Azog and him, Thorin could not possibly ask for a better proof of his courage and love.

If Mr. Baggins desired any proof of the king‘s feelings in return, he could not doubt them when the first words injured Thorin muttered after waking here on the Carrock were about him. Asking about his safety.

The hug that followed put such an adoring expression on the hobbit‘s face that everybody was bound to understand what exactly was going on. But they were dwarves, so naturally no one noticed anything. They just saw Thorin hugging their burglar, finally acknowledging that he was part of the company and Mr. Baggins being simply glad about that.

Only he and Ori, blushing up to his ears, knew that there was more. That there was deep love hidden beneath, very much like their own. And perhaps Gandalf too, because he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ' _finally_ '.

As they then stood at the edge of the Carrock, looking at the Lonely Mountain on the horizon, Ori managed to slip his hand into his. Dwalin squeezed it gently, making sure Ori was really there, safe and by his side. He loved the feeling of being able to touch him, loved Ori’s soft skin, the fact that Ori was eager to touch him.

He kissed him last night and Dwalin had the strangest feeling that if he was killed by the goblins today, he would have no regrets. Only perhaps that he couldn’t be with his little Ori longer.

Right now though, sitting by the fire, the situation was rather similar... He started to dislike Dori and Nori more and more as the day progressed. They never left Ori’s side and if one did, the other stayed, making it impossible for them to even talk to each other. And there were so many things he wanted to say to Ori. So many things he wanted to do with Ori...

A sudden movement on the other side of the fire drew his attention. Ori had stood up, looking at him.

'Where are you going, Ori?' Dori asked.

Ori turned red, 'Nowhere...'

'Is something wrong?' Nori joined in.

Dwalin tried hard to suppress the urge to punch them both.

'N-no... I was just... '

That was it! Nobody’s going to make his little Ori look so upset! Even if it were his own brothers! He was already standing up, when Gandalf came to them with 'What say you, young master Ori, would you care to join me for a little walk?'

Ori shot a quick glance at Dwalin and nodded.

'Don’t go too far though, Gandalf!' Dori called after them.

'It is a rather nice evening, isn’t it?' Gandalf chattered on, ignoring Dori completely.

Well, brilliant, thought Dwalin. Not only couldn’t he talk to Ori, he couldn’t even look at him now. His irritated gaze turned toward the place where Thorin sat with the burglar. Was it the setting sun or were Mr. Baggins’s cheeks unnaturally red? And wasn’t he sitting a little closer to Thorin than when he had left them?

This was bound to be a terrible, terrible evening. Having finally time and nothing better to do, he started to clean his axes, his mind wondering back to last night. Ori all cold and shivering in his arms, tears in his eyes, worried that he didn’t want him. It nearly shattered his heart. And then the kiss... The taste of Ori on his lips, that sweet smell of his, his cold hand wondering on his skin... He would give anything to be back there... were it not for the-

'DAMNED GOBLINS!' he bellowed, not realizing he yelled aloud. Everyone was staring at him. He coughed, 'I- I must have chipped an axe on one of them.' He explained, raising his axe for an emphasis. There was an array of 'Ah's and 'Oh's and then everybody went back to their business. He sighed. This really wasn’t helping his composure...

Some time later, when the fire was reduced to cinders, Gandalf and Ori came back. Gandalf looked at Dwalin for a second, then placed his staff next to him and turned to Ori again.

'Now Ori, why don’t you sleep here with me tonight, hmm? So that I could finish the story about my friend Beorn?'

Ori dared a look at Dwalin again. Was Gandalf giving them a chance to be together at least for the night? For a scary second Dwalin thought Ori was going to refuse because he glanced at his brothers. But they didn’t find anything odd about the wizard’s offer. They looked in fact (much to Dwalin’s delight) like they were arguing again.

'On my left side, if you don’t mind, Ori. I would prefer to have a view of the stairs in case something uninvited appeared.' Ori was back with his cloak which he settled as close to Dwalin’s as possible without it being too obvious.

'So as I was saying, that is how he came to built such a magnificent house. And it is truly an amazing house, very comfortable too. With lots of rooms, every single one of them with a huge comfortable _bed_... '

Dwalin was just about to settle when something in the wizard’s voice prompted him to look up just as he was talking about Beorn’s beds. Gandalf was looking straight at him, smile on his lips.

'Yes, I believe there is enough rooms for each of us to get our own. And we should be there by tomorrow’s evening, too.' At this he winked at Dwalin, pulled his hat over his eyes and went to sleep.

As the last orange light of fire went out, Ori laid down next to him. Dwalin could see the stars reflected in his eyes as he was looking at him. Various snores sounded through their camp, someone was mumbling in his sleep but other than that, everything was quiet. He reached out and caressed Ori’s cheek and then with one swift motion pulled him closer to himself, covering him with his cloak. Kissing him lightly on the lips, he drew back a little to look at him properly in the light of stars now that he could.

'Are you all right?' he asked and Ori nodded, placing on hand on his chest.

'The goblins didn’t hurt you?' Dwalin knew he sounded like Dori but he wanted to make sure.

'No,' Ori shaked his head in the most adorable way and Dwalin simply had to kiss him again. 'You were protecting me the whole time,' Ori was smiling at him. Dwalin thought that protecting Ori while fighting hordes of goblins would be difficult but it wasn’t. It came as something natural, like he was only protecting another part of himself. Which he really was, he realized as he was looking in Ori’s eyes.

Ori giggled suddenly and when Dwalin looked at him questioningly, he said: 'I am so happy, Master Dwalin. For Mr. Baggins and Thorin. And for you and me. For us...'

Dwalin stroked his cheek again, 'You need not to call me Master anymore.' He wouldn’t have believed it possible but his little Ori's face brightened even more.

'That is true...' he whispered, 'you are my Dwalin now... '

And then he was kissing him with hundreds of tender kisses and Dwalin kissed him back and all the horrible things of the day were washed away with those kisses. Later that night, Ori snuggled against his chest and fell asleep, murmuring ' _My_ _Dwalin_ ' twice in his sleep and each time it brought a smile to Dwalin’s face.

And just as he himself started to fall into sleep, Gandalf’s words came back to him. About lots of big rooms, with lots of big comfortable beds... Dwalin’s eyes flew open suddenly. Could the wizard possibly be suggesting... And for the first time in many years the warrior’s cheeks turned a pale shade of scarlet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... I may not be able to update for a day or two but don't freak out, I'll be back! The story isn't finished yet ;)


	5. Of Whispers in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 5, in which the rumours about Beorn's house are true, a shirt or two mysteriously disappear and Ori's mittens are in grave danger... :)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Of Whispers in the Dark

The birds were singing in the trees far below them. The sun was only a thin pale line in the east and already they were up and singing. That was a good omen, Ori thought as he woke up. He yawned and stretched out a little before settling back into Dwalin’s warm arms. He could feel his slow regular breathing on the back of his neck. Still asleep then.

Gandalf was sitting at the top of the stairs going down from the Carrock, smoking his pipe peacefully and watching the rising sun. Nobody else was up yet. He couln’t see Mr. Baggins’s things, so he assumed the hobbit was sleeping next to the king. Oin would wake first, he always did. He will start fussing around, gradually waking the others. That’s when he will have to leave the warmth that is Dwalin. But not yet. Ori closed his eyes again, he wasn’t going to move a single inch before he really had to.

*****

Mr. Baggins was walking next to him, a tiny smile on his lips. As far as Ori knew that smile hasn’t left him since he joined them by the fire for breakfast that morning. They were walking in silence, as they so often did, but this time Ori would really prefer to talk... He had something on his mind and wanted the hobbit’s opinion but... didn’t know how to ask. Or... whether he _should_ even ask. The whole thing was (as he believed) extremely private. But then again he couldn’t figure it out by himself and in this situation he couln’t possibly ask his brothers. 

His brothers. He sighed deeply. They will never ever accept his love for Master Dwalin... What if they never want to see him again? What if they abandon him?... He shaked his head, he didn’t want to think about it...

So instead he went back to phrasing his question for Mr. Baggins as best as he could in his mind. He was halfway through a particularly good one when the hobbit’s voice broke the silence.

'What is it, Ori?'

Ori looked at him, his nicely crafted question vanishing in an instant. Oh..... But as he was looking into Mr. Baggins’s eyes, he realized that the hobbit was his friend. A friend who trusted him enough to confide his love for Thorin to him, so it was only fair to show the same trust in return.

'Well, you see Mr. Baggins,' Ori started while looking around for anybody within earshot, but only Oin and Gloin were there, some distance ahead of them and nobody could possibly overhear their conversation over Oin’s loud shouting. They have fallen in such a comfortable feeling of safety as they were getting closer to Beorn’s house that they didn’t keep in their close line anymore. All around them were only trees and tall grass with flowers and one could hear nothing but the birds.

'The thing is...' Ori continued, fidgeting with his mitts, 'I think I can tell you this since... you and Thorin... well...  you see, Mr. Baggins, I am in a rather... same situation as you, you see... ' He dared to look at the hobbit who was looking at him with a confused expression.

'You mean... you are in love with Thorin as well?'

'No, no! Nothing like that... ' he said and Mr. Baggins’s shoulders relaxed a little, 'it’s just that... ' He looked at his poor mitts. If he doesn’t get this out quickly they will be completely ruined at this rate.

'I’m in love with Master Dwalin, you see. And he- he loves me back. I think. Well, he didn’t say so- but- but we kissed so that means he loves me, right? And I have this question I want to ask you because I do not really understand what he meant... what he means,' he blurted out. Then he noticed that they were standing and he could hardly hear Oin’s voice now.

Mr. Baggins folded his arms behind his back and rocked lightly on his heels, a small smile playing on his lips again.

'Well, I thought that would be the case,' he smiled even more upon seeing Ori’s surprised expression. 'One cannot simply not notice that whenever we get in some trouble he is always by your side protecting you and then... you look at him a little differently than at the rest of us... Though I must admit... a kiss... ' He chuckled good heartedly and Ori dropped his gaze to the ground. How embarassing...

'Oh, I don’t mean anything bad by that!' called Mr. Baggins and put one hand on the dwarf’s arm, 'But tell me now, Ori, what is your question?'

'Well,' Ori had a sudden desire to sit down somewhere. Preferably between those tall rhododendrons, so the hobbit couldn’t see his blushing face. Even those sweet smelling blue ones over there would do... He shot a glance at the hobbit, making sure he was taking him seriously, before looking quickly at the ground again.

'Last night on the Carrock, Gandalf was telling me stories about his friend Beorn. He-he mentioned his house... Many times... And that there is lots of space inside and that we will have some nice rooms each, you see...'

'Ah! What a relief! We could all use a nice warm room and a bath too... And a nice soft bed with goose feather pillows... He does have beds I hope? He is not sleeping on some hard wooden benches?'

'N-no,' Ori gulped, 'the way I understood it, he has lots of big beds, too... '

'Good, good!'

'Well, but you see, Mr. Baggins, it is exactly these beds that my question is about... ' he glanced at the hobbit again and seeing that he was still confused, went on, 'I was sleeping next to Gandalf this night, he insisted you see, with Master Dwalin on the other side... And then this morning, he... Master Dwalin I mean, he kissed me and then asked me something...'

Ori’s mind flew back to the Carrock. Dwalin holding him for the last time before everyone woke, kissing him with more passion than before, brushing his tongue over Ori’s inner lip and Ori suddenly finding it very difficult to breathe or move or not shout Dwalin’s name aloud.

'Ori,' the warrior whispered with his lips still on Ori’s, 'if what Gandalf is telling is true and we each have a room for ourselves at Beorn’s house... will you come to me tonight?'

Mr. Baggins’s mouth was forming a perfect 'O' when Ori finished telling him.

'S-so,' the hobbit started, his voice suddenly rather hoarse and he coughed a little, 'so what did you answer?'

'I said yes...'

'And now you don’t want to... '

'No, no, Mr. Baggins! You do not understand. I want to, I really do. I don’t think I could possibly want anything more! But... well... my question is... what I really want to know... is whether Master Dwalin means the same thing as I do when he asks me to come to him... I don’t want to embarrass myself or- or him by wanting something he doesn’t... So... what do you think he expects of me tonight, Mr. Baggins?'

The hobbit looked like he needed to sit down himself by now and he promptly did so, sitting right where he stood on the path. He ran a hand across his face and set to think.

*****

Ori was sitting on one of Beorn’s huge wooden benches staring at the table and listening to Gandalf as he recounted their adventures for their host, adding more and more dwarves into the story as he progressed. So far there were eight of them. He had to admit that the wizard was fairly crafty in withholding some crucial points of their quest.

He would have been much more impressed by this, had he not been so busy feeling ashamed. Embarrassed, rather.

Mr. Baggins was taking some time coming up with an answer of any sort to Ori’s question earlier, so the dwarf sat down next to him, thinking as well. The thought that occured to him there, however, was utmost alarming.

He was thinking back about their night in the cave and then on the Carrock and although he had trouble concentrating on anything else than on what he was feeling back then, he distinctly remembered that Master Dwalin had never, not even once, made any attempt to remove any of his clothing... it was him who touched the warrior’s shoulder where bare skin could be seen, him who wanted to take Dwalin’s shirt of...

Was he... was he behaving inappropriately? Perhaps he was making Master Dwalin uncomfortable... Perhaps this sort of thing wasn’t even allowed. Or it was wrong to want more than he had already... To desire something Master Dwalin couldn’t possibly give... or want.

But then why would he ask him to come to him at night? Could it be that he wanted to tell him this in private? Well, that would be all right. He could be happy with just kisses. If Master Dwalin wanted to only kiss him for the rest of their lives, he would take it. Yes, definitely.

But that didn’t change anything on the fact that he was acting improperly in front of the older dwarf...

'What are you two lads just sitting here for?' Bofur was coming to them, 'Gandalf wants to go first and explain to the good fellow that there is rather too many of us, says he wants yea with him Mr. Baggins. You better hurry up though. When we couldn’t find you Thorin got somewhat...' He scratched his cheek as he was looking for probably a less offensive word and settled for: '... upset.'

Master Dwalin was sitting next to him now. Ori peering stubbornly at the annual rings on the table, his hands in his lap, fidgeting with his mitts again. It calmed him immensely. He mustn‘t make the warrior uncomfortable by trying  to touch him constantly. 

At that moment Dwalin grunted and folded his arms on his chest, bringing Ori back to reality.

'... and the crack got wider and wider and all ten dwarves went falling down,' Gandalf was just saying.

'Ten?! But I see only eight here!' Beorn retorted, eyes travelling over all of them as he counted.

'Yes, well, you see...' Gandalf continued but Ori’s attention had driffted again. He sighed.  Had that crack not appeared he might have pulled Master Dwalin’s shirt off in the end. He might have touched his skin, might have kissed it all. And he knew the older dwarf would have let him. Because he cared for Ori and this is what Ori wanted. But Ori wanted him to want it too... To want Ori’s lips on his body...

There was a tiny snap and Ori looked down at his shaking hands to see that he had just torn off one of his mitt’s fingers... What a day this was...

Then Dwalin’s fingers closed around his and held them till Ori calmed down a little. His poor mitts.

He tried very hard not to think about anything for the rest of the evening. All of them were under Beorn’s vast roof now, feasting on a delicious food and listening to Beorn’s stories. Then suddenly their host stood up, told them to choose any room they desire for the night and after politely hinting that they smelled like goblins told them that a little stream ran close by his house.

'Mind you come back before the lights on the house go off though. And make sure to stay inside the whole night if you care for your lives,' and with those words he left the house and disappeared into wilderness.

There was a huge commotion as they all tried to get to the stream as quickly as they could, being sure that the lights won‘t be on for very long. Only Ori still remained in his place even though Dwalin wasn’t holding his hand anymore. But as the warrior didn’t move either, Ori stayed with him, sure that Master Dwalin wanted to tell him something.

'Ori,' he said quietly when everyone was finally outside, 'it’s all right, if you changed your mind. You don’t have to-'

'No!' Ori almost shouted, leaning closer to Dwalin than he intended in his eagerness to explain that it wasn’t like that at all. How could Master Dwalin possibly think so?

Dwalin was watching his face carefully, then nodding slowly stroked his cheek.

There was a loud yell from outside, followed by a sound of something heavy falling into water and then even louder roar of laughter.

*****

Ori was standing in front of Dwalin’s room, not sure if he should just walk in or knock first. Surely walking right in would be considered very rude, but on the other hand a knock could be heard in other rooms too and anyone might be curious enough to open his door just to have a look... Or maybe he could just stay here until Master Dwalin lost patience and went looking for him. But Master Dwalin was a very patient man...

A door at the end of the corridor opened suddenly and without giving it much thought in his panic he flang open Dwalin’s door, ran in and slammed them behind him. A few seconds later someone’s steps passed the room and continued down the corridor.

He removed his ear from the door and turned into the room. Dwalin was standing few feet away from him, amused smile on his lips.

'S-someone was passing...'

'Yes, I figured.'

Ori took a step closer to his warrior. He had prepared a very nice speech about being absolutely fine with their relationship staying the way it was but forgot it the moment he realized that Dwalin was standing  in front of him bare-chested.

He stayed where he was, trying very hard not to stare. Dwalin however closed the distance between them, gazing intently into the younger dwarf’s eyes.

'If- if you don’t want to, I can... ' Ori stuttered under Dwalin’s intense gaze.

'Me?' the warrior raised an eyebrow.

Ori dropped his eyes to the floor, 'Yes, I though maybe... you do this only because... because I want to...'

Both Dwalin’s hands were suddenly cupping his cheeks, his lips brushing Ori’s in a gentle kiss. 'Don’t think that,' Dwalin whispered against his lips, 'don’t ever think that.'

Ori felt his knees giving up. He reached out and folded his arms around the warrior’s neck, pressing his own chest to his naked one. He always knew Master Dwalin was strong, but to see him like this... An incredibly powerful desire filled him. He had to break from the kiss and take a deep breath or else he was afraid he might faint. Dwalin’s lips moved to his ear and neck. Ori felt his own hands tightening their grip, forcing them even closer together. They were doing it on their own, he had no control over them. Suddenly he had no control over any part of his body.

He had never imagined... could never imagine he could feel this way. The moment Dwalin’s mouth reached his neck he gasped. The warrior‘s hot breath send a shiver all the way through his body and when he kissed  him there it felt like every single cell within reach was beaing burned by a fire, singed by a desire, incinerated by a sheer need for more. It was the most thrilling thing Ori had ever experienced. He wished Dwalin would never stop doing that. He wished for him to burn him in this way for eternity.

He could’t feel Dwalin’s hands reaching down and pulling up his shirt until the cold air hit him. He cought his breath - if Master Dwalin’s lips could do this to him, what will happen when he will be able to feel him with his whole body?

His shirt fell slowly and soundlessly to the floor but Ori didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything anymore because Dwalin pulled him to himself again, pressed him to his chest. And Ori was lost...

He could feel everything, everything. It was like waking up from a long dream, opening eyes to a whole new world and falling into the sweetest dream at the same time. He could feel the heat, the texture of the skin, the strong muscles that moved beneath it, the softness of the hair... He pressed his lips to Dwalin’s again. The way Dwalin kissed him back was nothing like their tender kisses before. This time every kiss was more fierce, more passionate, filled with more desire. Every kiss was bruising his lips. Ori could feel the warrior’s tongue brushing his inner lip again, like he did that morning. He was overwhelmed with the taste and craving to do the same. Standing on tiptoes he did what Dwalin had, earning a deep moan from the warrior.

Dwalin stopped kissing him and looked into Ori’s eyes, panting. His eyes were almost black now.

'Ori, are you sure about this?'

Had Ori any capability to answer, he would have. As it was he only nodded, panting equally frantically. And suddenly Dwalin lifted him into his strong arms and carried him to bed. Ori only noticed that he was completely naked now (when did that happen?) before he found himself among soft pillows. Dwalin was naked too, but Ori was too ashamed to look anywhere else but the warrior’s eyes.

All this time he only wanted to touch Master Dwalin but to have him touch him instead... God... 

Dwalin laid on top of him, his strong body covering his and Ori though he couldn't possibly handle it much longer. To have all these feelings, to feel all these things, he was bound to die from excitement and happiness... The moment their bodies met, he could feel Dwalin’s weight. He was heavy, too heavy for him, he could probably break every bone in his body if he wanted to but it was beautiful. He couldn't explain it but it was the most beautiful feeling  in the whole world. He could see Master Dwalin supporting his own weight on his arms so as not to hurt him, he could feel him everywhere on his body... and could not do much else then moan and pant...

Dwalin’s mouth left his neck and was now kissing his collarbone, his hands wandering all over his body. And Ori would like to do the same but couldn’t... his body wasn’t his anymore, it didn’t listen to him anymore, it was his Dwalin’s now. Reacting only to his touch.

The warrior’s lips brushed over his stomach and Ori’s eyes flew open when he realized where those lips were heading. He couldn’t possibly... oh, god, he will notice. Dwalin will certainly notice the evidence of how his body reacts to his touches. He will be disgusted for sure... and Ori will die of shame at that exact moment...

Dwalins strong hands grabbed his hips and adjusted him on the bed. Ori’s arms were suddenly his again and all they could do was to cover and hide his face...

But then one of the warrior’s hands wrapped around him gently and Ori thought his heart might burst with the excitement. That... that... 

'Breathe,' Dwalin’s hot breath on his ear. He tried. He would do anything Master Dwalin asked of him. But his hand was still around him... and it was difficult, so difficult, so beautiful... Then that hand started to move slowly and his first instinct was to run away but he couldn’t, Dwalin’s strong body was everywhere. But even if he could, he wouldn’t ... he would never leave no matter what Master Dwalin did... And as he got used to the sensation, a strange heat started to fill him up...

Dwalin’s other hand gently pushed away his hands that were still covering his face and he kissed him. And Ori kissed him back, arms sliding up to his broad shoulders, clutching to the older dwarf desperately. The heat inside him was rising so quickly, he thought he might burn... but that would be all right, he would burn in Dwalin’s arms...

And then the heat reached every single part of him and he knew he was shouting Dwalin’s name but could not hear a thing. No sound reached him to where he suddenly were, wrapped in white light. He could still feel Dwalin’s skin under his fingertips but he wasn’t there... there was nothing but the light. Washing over him in soft delicious waves, each one filling him with immense happiness and contentment...

From somewhere Master Dwalin’s voice reached him, 'Sleep, beloved.' He felt the warrior's lips on his and he smiled. And then he was lost in the sweetest oblivion...  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so... my sincere apologies to anyone I might have caused a trauma and sorry about any typos, I'm too... ehm, restless right now to correct them. I'll fix them tomorrow ;)


	6. And White Petals in the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 6, in which the dwarves notice some mysterious things but completely fail to notice the obvious, many people are missing at the breakfast table and Gandalf shares his definition of a good night's sleep :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for Fantti, GammaDot, sasheenka, sra_danvers and ellez :) You've made me so happy today you totally deserve more... but this will have to do :)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### And White Petals in the Wind

'This is no ordinary house, lads, mark my words. It must have some mighty enchantments,' Bofur was was peeling an apple and now made a circular motion with his knife as if to point out which house he was talking about exactly, in case they didn’t know.

'What made you think of that, laddie?' Oin yelled across the table.

Bofur leaned on the table, looking at the old dwarf. Were it not Oin he was talking to right now, he may have continued in a whisper to add more effect to his words. As it was, he was forced to continue in his normal voice.

'What? Haven’t you noticed the footprints outside? It looks like a whole bunch of giant bears was walking around the house the whole night! And I for one haven’t heard a single thing. None of us have! Have yo-' he stopped before finishing his sentence. Of course Oin haven’t heard anything.

'But that is awfully strange!' Gloin joined the conversation, leaning on the table as well.

Ori was sitting between them, slowly eating his bread. When he walked down that morning he was positive everyone will take one look at him and immediately know he had spent the night with Master Dwalin. He felt that the truth must simply radiate from him; as if some part of Dwalin was now woven into his skin for everyone to see. He felt that last night must have changed him somehow.

But nobody saw a thing. Not even Nori and Dori. He was glad Gandalf wasn’t there. The wizard might have had some witty comment and he would certainly give himself away.

Not even their host was there. And neither were Thorin and Mr. Baggins. And Dwalin, of course.

He was still fast asleep when Ori sneaked out of his room an hour ago. He wanted to stay there but he had never been so hungry in his whole life like he had been that morning. He had already eaten more than his brothers together. Bofur might be right, the house was enchanted for sure. It made people more hungry and it made sounds disappear. Which, now that he thought about it, was probably a good thing.

He was painfully aware that he had shouted Dwalin’s name at least once last night. And made all sorts of embarrassing noises, too...

'Well, we can’t very well leave without properly thanking Beorn and if he doesn’t show up...'

'Yes, and Thorin isn’t up yet, too...'

'That’s right, we could maybe stay one more day...'

'Hmm, that is jolly odd, Thorin never sleeps this long...'

All around him conversations went by undisturbed... Wait, stay one more day? Could they do that? Ori’s heart started pounding all of a sudden. If they stayed one more night, then he and Master Dwalin could... He blushed right to his ears. If they stayed one more night, he would do his best not to get distracted. He would make his warrior feel all those things he had felt yesterday. He looked at his hands. Could he possibly touch Master Dwalin the way the older dwarf touched him yesterday?

He could, if it was for Dwalin, he could do that. But he would be so very nervous... He kept reminding himself that after all that has happened between them, he didn’t need to be nervous around him anymore but still... that didn’t stop his hands from trembling. And when he so much as thought about-

'Ori, are you coming?' Dori was talking to him.

'Where?' he noticed that there weren’t many of them left inside.

'Fishing, fishing. Beorn’s not here, Thorin’s not here, we might as well get some tasty lunch before they decide what to do next.'

'Well, I’ve got to-' sneak back into Master Dwalin’s room when the good fate is so generous and you are all going outside. He bit his tongue. He very nearly just said that. He simply must by more careful from now on. 'Fix my mittens.'

'Ah!' Dori pulled down his silvery waistcoat and passed it to Ori, 'Will you fix this for me? I must have torn it somewhere. There’s a good lad!' And laughing merrily he went out of the door with others, leaving Ori alone by that huge wooden table.

It took him approximately two seconds to decide what to do. He grabbed Dori’s waistcoat and ran out of the room and up the stairs. He stopped by Dwalin’s door and tried to calm himself a little. His gaze fell upon the door at the end of the corridor. They were still closed which meant it was either Thorin’s or Mr. Baggins’s room. One of them left that room last night, scaring him to death and went somewhere. Where could either of them possibly go that late at night?

But that was none of his business, neither was it of any importance now. He opened the door in front of him quietly, they didn’t creak at all. Dwalin was lying on his belly, snoring softly. Only his legs were hidden beneath the blanket, his broad and muscular back all uncovered for only Ori’s eyes to see.

Ori stood with his own back pressed against the door. Was he allowed to touch Master Dwalin when he was asleep? Dori’s waistcoat fell out of his hands. Surely, the warrior wouldn’t mind if...

He went slowly to the bed. It looked extraordinarily crumpled and he feared most of it was his fault. He climbed on it, sitting down, hugging his legs to his chest. The more he looked at Dwalin’s face, the more trouble he had recognizing him. He had never seen the warrior look so peaceful...

He reached out one hand, touching Dwalin’s shoulder, running his fingers across the scars that were there, then to his back and down to where the blanket blocked his way. His fingers hesitated, the blanket was no difficult barrier, not really, but it was a boundary line. One that he couldn’t cross without Master Dwalin’s permission.

His fingers went back up to the warrior‘s shoulders. There were so many scars there, lots of tiny ones but deep ones too. Why would anyone want to hurt his Dwalin? But he knew there were terrible, ugly, cruel creatures in this world and right then he hated them all. Hated them with his whole heart.

He pressed lips to one of those dark red scars. Master Dwalin must have endured so much pain in his life... he felt a prickle of tears in his eyes. Perhaps he could soothe it away somehow... make him forget... His lips were moving to another scar, covering it with tiny kisses, hoping it might disappear if he kept doing it long enough...

And now the company was on its way to a mountain where giant dragon sat on their treasure. They may have to fight it. Someone was bound to get hurt in the process, he knew. He didn’t want it to be Master Dwalin, he didn’t want any more pain in the warrior’s life...

'Ori?' Dwalin’s sleepy voice brought him back from the caverns of the Lonely Mountain filled with gold and danger. Ori pulled away from his shoulders and cuddled next to him, Dwalin laying an arm around him and hugging him closer. He kissed him softly.

'You’re dressed... is it day already?'

Ori chuckled, tears in his eyes forgotten, 'It’s been for many hours now.'

'Where are the others?'

'They went to catch something for lunch, Thorin’s still sleeping and neither Gandalf nor Beorn are here...' Ori got distracted by the way Dwalin’s muscles moved when the dwarf raised a little. It was fascinating, breathtaking... without thinking he pressed his lips to a place where the warrior’s collarbone joined the shoulder. He liked the slightly salty taste of Dwalin’s skin there... Dwalin moaned and with one swift motion pulled Ori beneath himself, hand sliding under his shirt.

'My Dwalin,' Ori panted, 'this-' There was a loud knock on the door and they both froze, looking into each other’s eyes.

'Dwalin, you in?' Thorin’s voice, rather hoarse, could be heard over the thin barrier of door. Ori panicked. His first and rather silly instinct was to close his eyes and pretend he wasn’t there. But that wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t do at all. Dwalin straightened up, turning his head to the door. What was he doing? He couldn’t possibly let Thorin see them like that!

Now that he could move again it crossed his mind to hide under the bed but he got tangled within the blanket, falling on the floor with a loud bang. Luckily he landed on the other side of bed from the door, the blanket falling on top of him; unfortunately while doing so, he had left Dwalin sitting on the bed completely naked. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear-

'What?' Dwalin’s voice barked.

Ori could hear the door open, Thorin stepping in and then stopping, probably looking at the peculiar scene in front of him.

'I wanted... you busy?'

Dwalin didn’t say anything but probably his expression was enough for the king because he grunted and left the room again. There was a silence for few moments as they both listened to his footsteps and then Dwalin laid back on the bed again and looked at Ori over the edge.

'Are you all right?' he asked with a smile and upon seeing it Ori started to giggle. And then they were both laughing about the ridiculousness of the whole situation.

*****

'Ah! So you like my house?' Beorn asked when he joined them for dinner that evening.

'Very much, indeed,' agreed Gandalf. The wizard showed up right when they finished roasting the fishes for lunch, eating five all by himself and adding a valid proof to Ori’s theory about the house. 'I must say I haven’t slept this splendidly in months. How about you, my dear Ori?'

Ori twitched, this was exactly why he didn’t want to sit next to Gandalf...

'Had a _good_ night?'

Ori chanced a look at him. The wizard’s eyes were twinkling, a playful smile on his lips. He nodded.

'There is nothing better than a long good night's sleep, right? Though I always say - it is not how long you sleep, it is _where_ you sleep,' Gandalf laughed a little and out of the corner of his eye Ori could see Dwalin staring at the wizard intently, as if daring him to continue.

'Quite right, too! And I am glad, you like it here,' Beorn took a sip of his mead, not noticing any hidden messages passing through in conversation. 'How about you, king Thorin? You slept well too?'

Thorin shot a quick involuntary look at Mr. Baggins by his side before turning to glare at Beorn.

'Yes,' he grunted, 'what of-'

'And how about you, dear Bilbo?' Gandalf intervened cheerfully, 'You have a very healthy colour this evening, I noticed the moment I saw you.'

'That’s not surprising at all, he’s been eating my honey all day,' Beorn started laughing.

A sudden movement caught Ori’s attention. It seemed to him like Thorin made a move to stand up and Mr. Baggins’s hand on his arm pushed him back on the bench again. It was all the more confusing, given that the hobbit’s eyes haven’t left his plate the whole time and Thorin was now staring at Beorn rather angrily... Dwalin next to him chuckled quietly.

Ori looked curiously at Mr. Baggins. He didn’t have any chance to talk to the hobbit the whole day. Thorin agreed to stay at Beorn’s house one more day but even when planning with Balin and Dwalin where they should go next, refused to let the hobbit out of his sight. It didn’t seem to him that Mr. Baggins minded all that much.

So instead he walked through Beorn’s gardens. There was so much to see, so much to draw. He could have stayed there the whole year and still have new things to discover. He found tiny white flowers by the stream, their petals shaped in a pattern similar to Dwalin’s emblem. He sat down and drew them, thinking he must take one back to show to him.

And then he thought about his cherished dream. He had never given much thought to where his dream-home was. But now he hoped it was somewhere in a garden. He would have loved to live in a place where he could have a small garden. He would take these white flowers and plant them there. They would spread everywhere over the years and when Dwalin travelled somewhere and left Ori at home, he could look at them and feel like they were together.

He ran his fingers through the gentle petals. Once they have their treasure back, they will be able to go anywhere and look for their home. And once there, he will plant these flowers. Yes, that’s what he will do...

Slowly one by one the dwarves started to drift into their rooms to get some rest before they started for Mirkwood next morning.

'Ori, have you fixed my waistcoat yet?' Dori called over the table. Ori’s head snapped up.

'I-I must have left it in my room.'

'Oh, all right, I’ll take it in the morning then.'   

Where on earth had he left Dori’s waistcoat?

'It is in my room,' Dwalin replied to his unspoken question quietly, 'and that explains why Thorin thought I had spent the night with your brother.'

*****

The lights were still on in Beorn’s house when Ori finished fixing Dori’s waistcoat and his mittens. He sighed. He could not very well go to Master Dwalin’s room with twenty torches illuminating the corridor. He was so restless that he even fixed clothes that were perfectly fine. Strenghtening the seams in case they decided to break in the future.

He was sitting on his bed now, staring at the thin line of light under his door. What if Beorn decided to leave the lights on for the whole night? What would he do then? He would have to risk walking through the corridor. He even though about the windows but if he was honest with himself he knew that was impossible for him...

Someone’s lips kissed him on the forehead, brushing his hair aside. He woke abruptly, looking into Master Dwalin’s eyes. Had he fallen asleep?! And Master Dwalin, he was in his room...

'I was... I was waiting for the lights... '

'Yes, me too. And when you didn’t come to me, I came here instead.' Dwalin’s voice was so deep that Ori could feel it vibrating through him to his very core.

'How long have you been waiting?' Ori felt awful, their precious time together...

Dwalin placed a soft kiss on his lips and laid on the bed as well, pulling Ori close to himself.

'Could have been,' he kissed him again, 'a minute or two.'


	7. At Dawn, There is Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 7, in which not much happens and that what happens is not for little kids eyes. All right? ;)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### At Dawn, There is Peace

'How long have you been waiting?' Ori looking at him timidly like this always made his heart hurt, strong need to comfort him filling him in an instant. He bent down and kissed him softly, laying on the bed as well, pulling Ori closer.

'Could have been,' one more kiss on those sweet, softest lips, 'a minute or two.'

But that wasn’t true, not really. Dwalin couldn’t wait even _that_ long.

He had been pacing his room measuredly waiting for the lights to go out, having excessive amounts of  time to think about the days that would come. The journey through Mirkwood was not going to be easy. He had heard some mighty strange tales about the place and Beorn with Gandalf only confirmed them. They will have to travel quickly and stay together at all times... There won’t be any chance for Ori and him to be together for the longest time...

That thought was causing him physical pain. He couldn’t go that long without touching his little Ori... not after last night. He could still see him, panting frantically, reacting to his every touch, calling his name... A sudden wave of desire filled him and he marched to the door, opening it with strong belief that now wasn‘t the right time to care about others. And the lights went out. Naturally.

He knocked on Ori’s door lightly, almost inaudibly and pushed it open slowly. Ori was laying on bed, fast asleep. Dwalin entered and nearly stumbled over Ori’s bag, standing there neatly packed for the journey. A silver waistcoat on top of it.

He chuckled when he remebered his conversation with Thorin earlier that day. He noticed the waistcoat on the floor in his room, of course, but didn’t pay any attention to it. There were too many things scattered all over Beorn’s house already and he was more concerned about putting the bed in order.

'I’m not going to say a thing,' Thorin said, keeping his voice deliberately quiet, when they were left alone on the veranda, watching the others and the burglar setting a fire to grill their fishes, 'you didn’t either, when I...'

Dwalin looked at the king, having no idea where the other was heading. Thorin was nodding his head unconsciously, eyes still on the others as if refusing to look at his friend. He looked like he tried very hard to come to terms with whatever was on his mind.

Clearly losing his inner battle, the king leaned on the table a little, closer ot Dwalin, 'But him?!' he whispered, raising his hand in the direction of the dwarves, 'him?'

'Who?'

'Dori.'

'What’s with him?'

Thorin was studying his friend’s face,'I do know you’ve spent the night with him.' The way he had said the dwarf’s name before made it sound like, for Thorin, even Oin might have been a better choice, perhaps even Bombur... Dwalin was staring back at him, confused and not really sure how on earth did the king come to such a conclusion. He took a deep breath and leaned on the table as well, looking him straight in the eyes.

'I haven’t seen Dori since the supper last night and I certainly didn’t spend the night with him.'

'But there _was_ someone in your room this morning...'

'Yes,' he answered cautiously after a while, 'but it was not Dori.' He knew Ori didn’t want anyone to know. And he understood it, he wasn’t going to betray his trust. The king seemed to relax a little.

'Very well. Well, like I said,' he straightened up again on his bench, regaining his composure, 'I’m not going to say a thing.'

Dwalin chuckled, 'How about you then? You haven’t been in your room the whole night.'

The expression on Thorin’s face came as a great satisfaction.

He approached Ori’s bed, looking at his sleeping face and couldn’t help but smile. He was the sweetest thing, his little Ori. Then he noticed something lying on the floor and picked it up. Ori’s journal. It must have fallen from his arms when he fell asleep. Dwalin wanted to put it back on the bed but then noticed that one of the pages bent when the journal fell. He smoothed it and there was a beautiful drawing of a flower he didn’t know. It looked familiar but he could have sworn he had never seen it before...

It looked alive though. He didn‘t know how Ori did it, but he could give life to anything with his black pencils... The more he looked at the blossom, the more he realized, that the petals were not made with straight lines, more like with tiny curly ones. He brought the journal to the window quietly and looked at the drawing under that little light the moon provided.

It were not lines, it were tiny words. It was a poem and he recognized it. He had heard it somewhere years ago and it was pretty and easy enough for him to remember. It was about a traveller who was coming home to his loved one. Had he ever recounted it for Ori? Yes, of course he had, he had told him all his stories, everything he had heard on his travels. Ori was the reason why he tried so hard to remember them all... One word was more distinct than the others, _home_. As if Ori traced over it with his pencil many times...

He felt his affection for the little dwarf deepen profoundly... Putting his journal back on the bed, he sat down next to him, brushing hair from his forehead and kissing him there. Ori woke, and once he was in his arms, all was well again. Mirkwood and Erebor forgotten and far, far away.

Ori shivered in his arms and snuggled closer to him, hand sliding up to Dwalin’s shoulder. And Dwalin was kissing him desperately. He wanted to take him, to make passionate love to him, to make him his for eternity. He had pulled Ori’s shirt up a little but the younger dwarf suddenly grasped his hand and shook his head. Dwalin raised a little on the bed... Ori didn’t want this. Was something wrong?

But then Ori sat up and, taking a deep breath, looked determinedly into his eyes.

'It-it’s my turn today, to... to..., ' he stuttered, still looking at him and even in the dark Dwalin could see he was completely red, 'to m-make you... feel-'

Dwalin kissed him then. He wanted to smile so much but that might have upset Ori, so he kissed him instead. He had to admit that the thought of Ori wanting to take charge made his heart pound feverishly fast. He let go of him and sat on the bed, waiting. Ori sitting opposite him, watching him and when he didn’t move, the little dwarf held out his shaky hands to his shirt.

He slowly unbuttoned two of Dwalin’s buttons and then reached down and pulled the shirt out of his trousers. Looking at the older dwarf as if asking for permission he pulled it over his head and laid it neatly over the footboard of the bed before turning back to him again, breathing heavily, unevenly. He kissed him gently and Dwalin felt a sudden strange pang of guilt. Ori was doing this so that he would feel good but he could see how completely new and uneasy it was for his poor little dwarf. Well, he could help. He grabbed him around waist, deepening the kiss and stood up with Ori in his arms. He sat him on the floor slowly, still holding him and Ori looked at him hesitantly.

'Why don’t you let me show you?' Dwalin said in a whisper and Ori nodded.

'You know,' the warrior bent down and kissed Ori’s neck under his left ear, Ori shivered and grasped his arms immediately, 'this is supposed to be,' he nuzzled the skin under Ori’s right ear now and when he kissed it Ori moaned, 'about both of us feeling good...'

'B-but yesterday,' Ori swallowed and tilted his head back a little under his touch and Dwalin cought his breath. God... what a sight... , 'you did...'

Dwalin kissed him on the lips before taking his shirt off, 'Because it was your first time'. With the same easy movement he send both their trousers to the floor, too. Pressing one small playful peck on his lips, he sat on the bed pulling Ori gently between his legs.  He was extremely aroused by now and only hoped Ori will be as shy as last night and not look at any other part of his body except his face.

Ori’s gaze slid down to his chest but not lower as he moved closer. Eyes travelling to his shoulders again, Ori just stood there for a while, not moving, looking at his scars. And when he next looked at Dwalin there was something new in his eyes but Dwalin didn’t have any time to ponder about it because with one swift motion Ori pushed him down on the bed and laid on top of him, chest pressed to his, his legs still between the warrior’s, lips on his neck.

Dwalin tilted his head back so fiercely that had there been anything else than soft mattress he might have broken it. Such strong and unexpected was the sensation. He could feel Ori‘s hot breath on his skin, his hands on his hips, his hardness on his belly... It was incredible and for the longest time he couldn’t do anything then feel all those places where Ori’s body was touching his, feel all those things Ori’s lips were doing to him... He felt light-headed, like he had too much mead.

His little Ori was like the purest sunny day in his life full of black vicious storms. His presence soothed him, calmed him. But when he let him like now, Ori could raise his very own kind of storm, the most dangerous one, one that was so fierce that it threatened to overwhelm Dwalin so powerfully that in the end there might not be anything left of him... And he allowed it, would allow it anytime. His Ori was the red storm of passion and desire.

Ori’s small fingers were tangling in the hair on his chest now, his lips following to wherever the fingers went. Reaching Dwalin’s stomach they kept going down, making way for Ori’s soft wet lips. And all this time the warrior was moaning loudly, incomprehensible words ecsaping his lips, clutching the blanket with both hands because he couldn’t possibly hold Ori when he was like this, he might hurt him unintentionally...

Ori’s hand hesitated and Dwalin reached for it, showing him it was all right, showing him how to touch him... and then Ori’s gentle hand wrapped around him and all of a sudden he wanted to cover his face like Ori did yesterday... never in his whole life has anyone’s touch affected him this way, never... god! Ori’s hand started to move and he lost it completely. The bed disappeared, he was floating in the air, every nerve in his body alive and anxious to burst in sweet explosion. His eyes flew open. No, he couldn’t. Not without his little Ori...

It took all the willpower he had to find the solid mattress beneath him again. He took hold of Ori and laid him on the bed, laying next to him, their lips joined in a kiss so deep he wouldn’t deem it possible had he still the capability to focus on anything. With his own suddenly shaky hand he reached down and wrapped his fingers around both of them...

Ori gasped and digged his nails into Dwalin’s shoulders. But Dwalin didn’t feel it, Ori could scratch his back till it bled, he wouldn’t feel it, wouldn’t care. He only felt the two of them, their hardness in his hand, their hot mingled breath, their tongues brushing against each other, that sweet smell of Ori’s body all over him now...

Ori grasped him tighter, unconsciously thrusting their hips together and- dear god! There couldn’t possibly be anything more erotic in the whole world than that movement. The little dwarf kept whispering his name between frantic intakes of breath. He was very close, Dwalin could feel it, they will come together...

And just that thought sent him over the edge so powerfully as never before. He felt his lips move as he cried out Ori’s name and then there was nothing but bliss. Absolute and complete bliss filled him and stayed with him, washing him in warm and marvelous explosions of feelings... Ori fell into his arms and Dwalin held him, even though there was no strength in his hands, burying his head in the younger dwarf’s neck. He could feel Ori’s body still trembling a little in a beautiful harmony with his. Ori... He was his world now, he was all there was.

*****

Dwalin was dreaming the most peculiar dream.

In his dream Ori was running slowly through a colossal underground cave and he was running after him. The walls of that cave were interlaced by thick veins of gold creating the most delicate patterns. There were no fires there but still the light was pouring from somewhere. He looked up and saw that hundreds of diamonds were scattered across the ceiling. Not the raw diamonds but cut ones. They were wonderfully crafted and shone like the stars themselves, illuminating the cave bellow.

But the gold and diamonds were nothing compared to the flowers. The ground was covered with flowers made of gemstones. There were thousands and thousands of them, all glittering in the bright light of diamonds, going on and on like a vast sea and he couldn’t see whether there was any end to them.

There were little sapphire bluebells right where he stopped, with brittle emerald leaves.

'My Dwalin,' Ori was standing among snowdrops of the purest white opal, smiling and waiting for him. He was so very beautiful, he was more precious than anything in that cave. Why were they here?

'Where are we going?' he asked Ori as he ran after him, equally slowly and lightly as Ori had done before, his feet not breaking any of the gem-flowers.

'We need to find our home.'

Dwalin didn’t understand but followed. On and on the path went, passing flowers made of every kind of gemstone the dwarves had ever digged out of the earth itself. And Dwalin recognized them all. Suddenly Ori stopped in a field of silvery flowers.

They looked like the one Ori drew a picture of... long ago, somewhere far away, in a different world. These ones were made of mithril though and they were the most skilfully crafted things in the whole cave, Dwalin knew. They were perfect. And as he watched Ori slowly fell into them. Their mithril petals rising in the air like real ones would have done, his little Ori stretching out a hand to him.

Dwalin squeezed it lightly and fell to his knees next to him, into the blossoms. All of a sudden he could smell their sweet scent. He kept gazing into Ori’s happy eyes and could feel a light breeze blowing around them. He looked up and the sky was blue. It was a real sky, they were not in the cave anymore. He bent down and kissed Ori, feeling the sweet taste of his lips...

Awake, he kept gazing into the darkness of the room, waiting to get used to it. The sun will come up soon. Ori was sleeping in his arms, head laid on Dwalin’s chest, breathing peacefully. Dwalin ran his fingers across Ori’s back, intertwined them there and pressed the younger dwarf closer. He loved that sensation. Ori’s naked body against his...

He understood now. He has to find that place from his dream. He needs to find it so that he could bring Ori there, so they could live in a place with blue sky and real flowers, so they could have a home together...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand yet again, sorry for certain scenes, I'm totally embarrassed right now....... :)


	8. Shadows in the Green Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 8, in which Gloin has some smart ideas, a secret is revealed and everyone would much rather follow the butterflies ;)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Shadows in the Green Light

'Well, I say we send the burglar first,' Gloin said, 'he is the smallest and if there is anything hiding on the other side, waiting for us, there’s a chance it won’t notice him. What say you Mr. Baggins?'

'No.'

But it wasn’t the hobbit’s voice that answered. Poor Mr. Baggins had only time to make an unhappy face when Thorin answered for him. They were standing by the river that ran through Mirkwood, the king deciding what do next, the rope of a small boat clutched firmly in his burglar’s hands.  

'Humph,' Gloin grunted, 'if you have a better idea...'

Thorin was staring silently across the river. Ori had never seen a place like Mirkwood, nor could he ever imagine it. The trees were crammed so tightly together here that they couldn’t see a thing on either side of them, it was like walking through a never-ending tunnel. But the worst part was the light. They couldn’t even see the sky through the trees and everything was washed in a dark green gloom. It gave a scary tinge to everyhing it touched.

He couldn’t see the shore on the other side in this terrible, terrible light and understood Thorin’s reluctace to send Mr. Baggins there alone. He shivered, he didn’t like it here. It was by far the scariest place he had ever been to, and that included the goblin caves back at the mountains... But he promised himself not to let anyone know...

'I’ll go with him,' Thorin said. There was a murmur of disagreement. Nobody wanted the king to go into an obvious danger but they wouldn’t say it aloud. Except for one.

'I can go, Thorin,' Dwalin’s deep voice spoke.

Ori shot a startled look at him. Not Master Dwalin... There could be all sorts of horrible creatures on the other side! Maybe... maybe they could follow the river and find a bridge... But Gandalf told them not to leave the path. All this was the cursed forest's fault. This cursed, evil -

'No, you stay here and once I give you a sign, make sure everybody gets to the other side safely,' Thorin put a hand on Dwalin‘s shoulder and nodded for Mr. Baggins to get in the boat.

...

But there was nothing on the other side of the river, only more trees and more green light. One by one they travelled across the river in pairs, oppressive silence falling on all of them. Dori was just putting his things in the boat, because now it was his and Ori’s turn, when Ori realized that once they leave there will be only Dwalin and Bombur left alone on this riverside. He turned to look at Dwalin.

He was so strong, he was the strongest of them all and it never crossed Ori‘s mind to worry about him before. He knew nobody could defeat him, in his eyes the warrior was invincible. But now...

Now they weren’t Dwalin and Ori anymore, they were 'us'. Dwalin’s battle scars meant something different now, they meant he could get hurt like anyone else. And Ori didn’t want that. He knew he wouldn’t be of much help if it came to a fight but he would do his best to help, he would die do save him...

'Ori,' Dwalin’s voice taking him back, he realized that Dori was speaking to him, too.

'-so hurry up, Ori, the faster we get out of this damn forest, the better,' and with that Dori climbed in the boat himself.

Dwalin was looking at Ori. And so was Bombur, incomprehension of Ori’s hesitation written across his face.

'Get in that boat, lad,' Dwalin said in his rough voice and, stepping closer, gave him a light push towards the river bank. Then bent down, took Ori’s bag and while doing so brushed his fingers over his. Their eyes met. 'It will be all right,' Dwalin whispered so quietly that only Ori could hear and then threw his bag on the boat. And Ori climbed in after it and then sat and watched as Dwalin and Bombur were getting smaller and smaller with the distance, until they were lost in the green light.

It was like an illness, this need to be with Dwalin, to touch him. It grew stronger all the time and everything else seemed less important...

It wasn’t like this before - before just an ordinary friendly hug would be more than enough. And now... he couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about the warrior, the way he touched him, the way his skin felt under his fingers... Those two nights in Beorn’s house had changed everything. And Ori didn’t really understand.

His whole life he assumed that, when in a relationship, you were simply contended. You were there for each other in times of happiness and sadness, you took care of each other when sick, you took comfort from each other’s company... never had he heard anyone talk about such passion and desire he felt for Dwalin...

He turned around as they reached the opposite bank and looked at Dori. His older brother was watching him strangely, frowning slightly but didn’t say anything.

*****

'Oh, this was such a bad, bad idea...' said Mr. Baggins quietly. He was sitting next to Ori, both of them leaning against a huge tree trunk. All trees in this forest were huge. And old, partly rotten but still very much alive.

Ori couldn’t agree more. Following some strange lights wasn’t smart in the first place, following them through an unknown forest when you are told not to leave the path was... well, stupid. It was Gloin's idea, naturally, and all of them ended up going because nobody wanted to break the company and they were hungry and thirsty enough to risk it. And then the lights disappeared and they were lost in the dark. It took them a great deal of time to find each other and then they decided to stay where they were and wait for the daylight.

Thorin was obviously nearby Mr. Baggins because he grunted upon the hobbit’s silent words. Ori knew his brothers were next to him on the other side. Dwalin was hidden somewhere in the darkness with others, close by but as Ori didn’t know where exactly, far away...

On impulse he reached for the hobbit’s hand and found it within seconds. Mr. Baggins squeezed it lightly and kept holding it. And thus the time passed and nobody spoke with anyone, everyone tired and low-spirited...

He might have just fallen asleep or been sleeping for hours but suddenly Bofur’s urgent whisper woke him up, 'They are back! Look!' There was a sound of muffled noises as the others woke as well and were turning around to look for the lights.

'All right, let’s try again,' Thorin said and they could hear him stand up,'I’ll go first this time.'

'Thorin, don’t,' Mr. Baggins’s imploring whisper and Ori felt him let go of his hand, probably to reach for the king. There came another sound, which the others couldn’t have heard over their scrambling and Ori wouldn’t have recognized only few days ago. But now he knew. Thorin kissed Bilbo in the darkness of the forest, to give him courage. And he wished with all his heart his Dwalin could do the same...

They crept through the forest and finally huddled behind a fallen tree. And there, under the lights, the wood elves were dancing and feasting. Ori was so hungry that the look at all that food nearly filled his eyes with tears.

'I guess I can try and talk to them,' Thorin sighed deeply and for once there were only murmurs of agreement from his company, with the only exception of the burglar. Once Thorin left, they clustered by the end of their tree. It was a great relief to see the light again... Ori saw Dwalin few steps away from him and crept to him as quietly as he could.

The warrior shot one quick glance at him and then went back to watching Thorin intently.

'Anything happens,' he whispered, 'you take a good hold of me and don’t let go no matter what, you hear me?'

Ori wasn’t sure if Dwalin heard his whispered yes because right at that moment Thorin reached the circle of lights, fell to the ground and all the lights went out again. Ori grabbed Dwalin’s cloak and held onto it with all his strength. They mustn’t move or they’ll never find each other again. He tried to remember where Mr. Baggins was standing, and Dori and Nori-

His heart nearly stopped. Right in front of him appeared rows of tiny balls shining with some dim light of their own and as they got closer he realized that it were not balls at all, but rather eyes of some hideous enormous spider... His body had frozen to the ground, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t scream for Master Dwalin’s help...

Then something huge and heavy flew through the air around him and hit the spider, the light in its scary eyes going out, illuminating for the shortest moment one of Dwalin’s axes.

'Curse them,' the warrior hissed, 'SPIDERS!'

And all around them Ori could hear his companions reaching for their weapons as more and more of such eyes appeared out of darkness. And then the most unfair battle started because they couldn’t see their enemies properly and knew that the spiders can see them very well indeed.

Ori tried to keep out of the way of Dwalin's axes as he slashed around himself, but then suddenly something huge hit him so fiercly that he dropped Dwalin’s cloak and fell to the ground. The thing that slammed into him was coming back quickly and before he could react in any way, he felt something sharp piercing his clothes and skin on his shoulder and he let out a cry of pain.

In that instant Dwalin’s axe stroke again and something hairy and terribly smelling fell on his legs.

'Ori!' Dwalin shouted and Ori could feel him kneeling beside him.

'I’m all right, don’t let them... you...' that was all he could say and was relieved when Dwalin stood up and started fighting again. If he stayed with Ori he would only get poisoned too...

Because those spiders were much more venomous than any ordinary spiders. Ori realized the moment he wanted to press the injured place to stop it from bleeding, his hand moving as if it wasn’t his own... He couldn’t breathe and that sentence to Dwalin was all he could manage.

He should have said something different though... If he was dying he should have-

*****

Someone was shaking him, slapping his cheeks and talking to him... He felt awful, he felt sick... He didn’t want to open his eyes, he wanted to stay as he was because anything else would definitely be much worse...

'Ori!'

What a familiar voice... he opened the eyes reluctantly... Mr. Baggins...

'You’ve got to help me free the others! Quick! The spiders will come back soon!' Ori tried very hard to understand those words... spiders... That’s right! They were being attacked by spiders. Where were they now? He looked around, there was light in the forest again but he almost wished it wasn’t. All around them spider webs hang on the trees and a good deal of them was still on him too.

Were they captured? They must have been... Mr. Baggins was cutting open a bundle of those disgusting webs next to him and there was Oin in it. He looked worse than Ori felt. And than it suddenly hit him, in all those bundles around him were his companions, trapped.

He reached for his small knife and freed his legs and then set off to cut the others free like Mr. Baggins was still feverishly doing. His shoulder hurt but it wasn’t bleeding so he paid no attention to it. He found both his brothers, both dazed, Fili and Kili, very green and on and on the hobbit and he kept cutting through the webs.

That’s when the spiders started to crawl back and Mr. Baggins, mumbling something about becoming invisible, ran to them and then yelled at the dwarves to get away from there. They all very gladly obeyed (because they were still sick and in no shape to fight) except for Dwalin, Fili and Kili who went to help their burglar. But just as Ori looked back the branch upon which Dwalin and Mr. Baggins stood broke and down they fell.

Ori could hear himself yelling Dwalin’s name before somebody seized his arm and dragged him away. Nori. He kept pulling him away from his Dwalin and no matter how hard Ori fought him, he didn’t have enough strength to break his grip.

*****

They were all collapsed under a giant oak with only Ori standing, staring into the woods. He wanted to go back but he would never find his way to the spiders in this forest. Poor Mr. Baggins. And Fili and Kili. And his Dwalin. How will they ever find them again? He felt tears running across his cheeks, his eyes stinging...

Why, oh why did Nori only pulled him away?

He could hear steps on the dry leaves, approaching them. Everyone grabbed their weapons but they did not have any energy to stand. Ori staggered back a few steps. Were there more spiders coming for them? Or anything more terrible than them? He didn’t care, he just wanted to fall down right where he stood and never wake up again...

And then suddenly the hobbit reached their oak and all three dwarves with him. All scratched and pale but very much alive. There were loud cheering calls all around them and both Fili and Kili started to laugh aloud, for no better reason than just being alive.

But Ori could only see one person. He was so mightily happy that he couldn't bring himself to care one bit about what his brothers might think and ran into Dwalin’s arms. And the warrior hugged him back, dropping both his axes and pressing him to his chest. And Ori had his arms around his neck, head buried there as well, breathing deeply, his tears falling on Dwalin’s shirt. 

He closed his eyes and just let the warrior's warmth spread through him. 

But then someone’s strong hand grasped his and tore him out off Dwalin’s arms. He turned around and saw Dori, all red in his anger, staring at Dwalin with an utmost hatred.

'You better leave my little brother alone,' he spat and pulled Ori even further away. And Ori just kept looking at him. Had he not been in such a shock he might have fought back. But it was his fault. He gave away their secret, and now his brothers will never let him near Dwalin again...

'I saw the way you looked at him by the river, you... you,' Dori went on. Nori came from somewhere and took a place beside his brother. His movement seemed to bring Dwalin to his senses again.

'You what?' he said, equally angry as Dori. Ori jerked his hand away from Dori’s grip and stood between them facing his brothers, his back to Dwalin. If they insist on him choosing, he will. Dwalin put an arm around his waist without taking his eyes from Dori and Nori and took one step back, shoving Ori behind his back. Dori’s face got even more red and he raised his hand but then Mr. Baggins’s voice resounded through the forest.

'Thorin!' he yelled, his voice panic stricken, 'Where is Thorin?!' 


	9. They Disappear by the Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 9, in which the elves are not very nice, two dragons appear and for once it is not considered rude to talk to someone through closed doors... :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I got a little carried away, so this one's a tiny bit longer... :)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### They Disappear by the Morning

The Halls of the wood elves were nothing like Rivendell, Ori thought as they were brought in. Rivendell was beautiful, full of flowers, sparkling clear water and light. These Halls were like the forest of Mirkwood itself - filled with dim green light, dark stone, fast black rivers... And so were the elves that lived there. Vicious like all the other creatures, with dark unfriendly eyes that showed no mercy. They scared Ori more than goblins and wargs combined.

The Elvenking himself was beautiful and noble but other than that just like the rest of his people and there was something hostile in the way he spoke with Balin. They all knew nothing good will come out of it.

Had they not been so worn out from hunger and spiders, they might have fought back when the elves surrounded them by their oak tree. But there were too many of them and they wouln’t have stand a chance. They didn’t have Thorin...

It was the most horrible thing. Mr. Baggins calling Thorin’s name and them slowly realizing he was right. They have left him, they have abandoned him... By now the spiders might have killed him... The most profound sadness and helplessness took hold of their hearts...

But all the sorrow of the dwarves was nothing compared to the torment on Mr. Baggins’s face. He made a move as if he wanted to run back to the forest, but his legs gave up and he fell on his knees into dry leaves. And there he sat and wept silently and most of them joined him as their tears fell.

'Stop it, this is not going to help a thing,' Dwalin’s voice broke the silence. 'You two,' he turned to the hobbit and Ori, 'think, when you got us out of those web cocoons, were there any more left? Did you open all of them?'

Mr. Baggins looked at him with eyes full of tears and didn’t seem to understand his words.

'There were,' Ori answered, he was still standing behind Dwalin’s back, the dispute between his brothers and the warrior forgotten for now, 'but they were all small, as if a rabbit or a squirrel were inside. I haven’t seen any big ones that could hold Thorin. Have you, Mr. Baggins?'

The hobbit finally understood, he dried his eyes with his sleeve and stood up, looking at Dwalin.

'I haven’t seen any other big ones either. You were all together and I passed through the whole place looking for you,' a little hope could be heard in his voice.

'I last saw Thorin as he fell to the ground when the lights disappeared,' Bofur said, sounding more hopeful himself.

'If the spiders don’t have him, they might have missed him and he still may be lying there,' Bombur added.

'They wouldn’t have missed him, they came from that direction as well,' Dwalin said, looking into the forest.

'Well, what does that mean?' Kili’s eyes flitted from one to another and stopped on the warrior.

'If the spiders don’t have him, they must have missed him and the only way they would have missed him is that he was not there anymore. It could be...' Dwalin frowned, 'the elves might have taken him as a prisoner when they disappeared... '

'And now the elves shall take thee as a prisoner,' a strange tinkling voice sounded and that was when the elves reappeared and took them captive, leading them to their king in his hidden Halls. And somehow, Mr. Baggins managed to disappear instead...

The debate between Balin and the Elvenking took its expected turn when the king got mighty angry with the dwarf’s refusal to tell him about their quest and decided to keep them in prison till they changed their mind. Upon which he stood up from his throne, put an enchantment on them and they all fell into a deep sleep.

*****

In his dream Ori was in Erebor. He knew he was dreaming because he had never been there and Erebor of his dreams was Erebor of the past, full of dwarves, fires and treasures. Full of life. It was the most magnificent place.

He ran his fingers over the balustrade in front of him, the black marble cold under his touch. It looked and felt so real...

Nobody paid any attention to him. Everyone was simply passing by, talking with others, laughing or frowning. It was an ordinary day. Just like yesterday was. But then Thorin’s voice resounded through the whole mountain and Ori knew there will be no other ordinary days like that for the dwarves of Erebor. The dragons were coming...

Ori saw them, how come there were two? One had scales of silver and they shone so bright in the sun that they almost blinded him; the other was the colour of polished copper, both flying straight at the main gate, their fire destroying everything it touched. Everything Ori knew and loved was turning into dust. The dwarves were running everywhere but he couldn’t move. All of a sudden he knew the dragons had come for him. He knew them... they spoke with voices he knew...

All around him giant pieces of stone were falling, all the beauty that had been was disappearing under their strong paws. They had come only for him and destroyed everything else in the process. They wanted to take him away from something precious hidden deep down in caverns... He couldn’t leave it, he would never find it again...

Another  voice reached him, coming like an echo from the caverns below, ' _I will find you. I will always come for you._ '

One of the dragons took hold of him and he screamed as much as he could...

Ori woke. His vision was blurred and all he could see was a stone wall opposite him. He was so tired... so very very tired...

He looked around and realized he was back at the forest of Mirkwood. But where were the others? Where was his Dwalin? And Dori and Nori?

He turned around as he heard footsteps coming from the green light. But these were different, these didn’t belong to a hobbit and dwarves, they were too fast and there were too many of them. Spiders.

Ori jumped to his feet. He didn’t have any weapon, he was all alone. He was scared. What could have happened to the others?! Were they also captured by the spiders as he was about to be now? Were the elves so cruel to leave them in their terrible forest, separated from one another?

He wanted to bend down for a fallen branch but the spiders were faster and were suddenly all over him. Their weight knocked him down to the ground and no matter how hard he was hitting them they didn’t move. Their tiny cruel eyes were watching him and then one of them bit him...

Ori screamed again and attempted to shake them off but someone’s strong arms grabbed his and pinned him to the ground again.

'It’s all right, you’re safe. Wake up,' someone’s voice commanded. It was the same voice that spoke to him from the depths of Erebor...

He opened his eyes. The stone wall he saw before was still there, only now Dwalin was bending over him, a firm grasp on Ori’s arms. Ori didn’t understand. He looked around. Bright light was pouring in from outside through a tiny window, not the strange green one, a normal light.They were in a room carved into the rock, with sturdy wooden door and a little opening with iron bars. A cell, then.

'You’ve been having nightmares,' Dwalin’s soft voice, 'don’t move, you’re bleeding.'

He stood up and went somewhere behind Ori’s head. A sharp pain ran through his shoulder  where the spider had stung him before, the shirt there drenched with blood.

'It must have opened when you started tossing around,' Dwalin was back, unbuttoning his shirt and pressing a soft clean cloth to his shoulder, wiping the blood around with another wet one, 'who were you fighting?'

'Dragons,' Ori croaked, his mouth incredibly dry, 'and spiders...'

Dwalin smiled, finished dressing his wound and then passed him a big cup of water. Ori gulped it down in one swig, he couldn’t remember when he had last drunk... not to mention eaten.

'You’re so pale,' Dwalin muttered, pressing a palm of his hand to Ori’s forehead, 'but warm. You’ve got to eat something.'

Ori nodded with a small smile and then looked around again.

'The others?'

Dwalin looked at him, his face troubled. 'Oin and Bofur are in the cell across the hall, Gloin and Bombur next to them. The others haven’t woken up yet... or they are not here...'

And just as he said that, sounds of movement and some cursing came from the cell next to them. Dwalin stood up and went to the door. On the opposite side Ori could hear Bombur shuffling to his door too, to have a look.

'Damn these cursed elves!' Dori’s voice moaned and then he slowly approached the door as well, 'Ori! Ori are you here?'

Ori jumped from his bed, hand clutching his injured shoulder and ran to the door.

'Yes!' he called.

'Are you all right?'

'Yes, is Nori with you?'

'Yeah, he’s here, snoring as usual...'

'Well, that’s jolly good news!' Bombur joined the conversation happily, 'There are more of us, that's good, and the others will surely wake soon. We thought it was only us here - me, Bofur, Oin-'

'Yeah, yeah, that’s very fascinating,' Dori interrupted his speech grumpily, 'Dwalin. Does anyone know where Dwalin is?'

A silence fell through the prison and Bombur seemed to pretend dropping something on the floor, just to withdraw from his door. Ori looked at Dwalin. He had never lied to his brothers... 

'Go on, tell him,' Dwalin told him quietly, 'he might get angry enough to break the door and get us out of here.' But Ori kept looking at him. There was something in his expression he didn’t understand. Deep sadness seemed to fill his eyes, but then he turned to the door again and Ori could see it no more.

'He is here with me,' he answered to Dori.

There was a moment of quiet and then a furious clatter of the door that lasted for several minutes. The door however didn’t succumb and soon Dori’s panting filled the following silence. Then his angry voice sounded again.

'You so much as put a finger on him and you will have to deal with me! You hear me, Dwalin?!'

 'Yes,' Dwalin answered and then moved away from the door. Ori kept watching him, a fear creeping into his heart. What did that mean? Was... was Dwalin giving up on him because Dori and Nori didn’t agree with them being together? Could he leave him? Just like that?

'Good! Because-'

'Stop it!' Ori shrieked, cutting Dori off. He was so tired. He rested his forehead on the iron bars. They were nicely cool, they were the only thing that felt good right now.

Why were they doing this to him? All three of them? Dori and Nori were just like the dragons in his dream. If he didn’t let go of Dwalin they would destroy everything, there would be nowhere for him to return to; for them he won’t exist. And Dwalin... Was he letting him go because of that? How could they be so cruel? How could they not understand?

'Can’t you see... ' and suddenly huge bitter tears were flowing down his cheeks and he sobbed. He could still feel the pain in his shoulder but it was nothing compared to this. What was he supposed to do? He was all alone just like in that forest...

Then Dwalin’s arms wrapped around him and he clutched them and kept crying into Dwalin’s shoulder. Mighty sobs were heaving his chest, his whole body shaking. He looked at Dwalin with eyes full of tears.

'Y-you said you wanted me, y-you called me beloved,' he took a shaky breath, 'why would you want to leave me now?' Still new and new tears were coming from his eyes, he couldn’t stop them.

Dwalin shook his head, his thumbs stroking the tears from Ori’s cheeks. He kissed him and then pressed him to himself again. 'Ori, it‘s not like that. You know I would never want to leave you, I... I just don’t want you to have to choose between me and your family. I know how much you love them...'

'I love you, too,' Ori choked, swallowing his tears.

Dwalin’s arms around him tightened and for the longest moment they just stood there, holding each other. Ori made up his mind back at the forest when he stood between his brothers and Dwalin. If Dori and Nori really wanted him to choose, if they could not live in peace with his decision to be with the warrior, he would choose Dwalin. No matter how much it hurt to think he may loose his brothers, the thought of loosing Dwalin was thousand times worse... If the warrior were to leave him...

Dwalin brushed the last tears from Ori’s cheeks and smiled at him, the sadness disappearing from his face. 'I love you back,' he whispered.

Ori smiled too. His Master Dwalin. He said he loved him. He loved him...

Then the whole world suddenly spinned and had not Dwalin cought him, he would have fallen to the ground with fatigue...

*****

When he woke again, it was already dark outside. He couldn’t remember any dreams this time, he woke because he thought someone was saying his name.

And then he heard Dori’s voice.

'-next door, with... Dwalin.'

Who was he talking to? He turned around. The torches were lit in the hallway and he could see Dwalin standing by the door. He got slowly up and joined him there, peering in the hall.

And suddenly there was Mr. Baggins. Both dwarves nearly jumped and then just kept staring at him, not sure how on earth did he manage to get into the elvish prison without being caught. How he got into the elvish prison in the first place...

'I’m so glad I found you,' he whispered with a soft smile, 'Thorin’s here somewhere, too. I’ve heard the elves talk about him. But... I can’t find him anywhere. I have searched all the dungeons, this one is the last one left and it’s only you here. Dwalin... I don’t know where else to look...' Mr. Baggin’s eyes shone with tears in the light of the fire.

Dwalin was looking at him, frowning slightly. 'You listen to me very carefully now, Mr. Baggins,' he said after a while, 'you are the only one Thorin has right now, none of us is going to be of much help. So don’t you go giving up. You know he wouldn’t give up on you, he wouldn’t leave you here... If he told them his name, they’ll know he is important. They will not keep him in ordinary prison like this... There’s bound to be another dungeon beneath us... have you seen any stairs or anything leading deeper down?'

The hobbit blinked rapidly, shaken out of his despair with Dwalin’s words.

'There are stairs, but they only lead to cellars with food and wine...'

'Try to look there if you haven’t yet. Thorin’s cell is not going to be so easily found. But,' Dwalin smiled at the little hobbit, 'don’t get yourself caught.'

Mr. Baggins nodded determinedly.

'And while you’re at it, Mr. Baggins, try to think of a way how to get us out of here, there’s a good lad,' Bofur called after him as the hobbit sneaked out of the prison again.

*****

That was some days ago. And were they not in prison and were his brothers talking to him, they would have been very happy days indeed.

Mr. Baggins had found Thorin on the second day, that small smile of his returning to his lips. He told them their king was well, and that he, their burglar, had figured out how to get out of the wood elves kingdom. So now they were waiting... waiting for a good opportunity to escape...

Every morning Ori would wake up in Dwalin’s arms, he would listen to his calm breathing and the birds outside and wait for him to wake as well. And then Dwalin would kiss him softly and smile at him. They would eat whatever the elves gave them and Dwalin would give him part of his food, saying he needs to gather some strength. And then they would sit, Dwalin telling him about places he had been to and stories he had heard about them and Ori would listen and draw them into his journal. And when the evening came, Dwalin would take him in his arms, whispering more stories to him or answering all the questions that crossed the younger dwarf‘s mind during the day. And then Bifur would start to play on his flute and all the dwarves would sit and listen in their cells, each one of them thinking about better times...

Dwalin was sitting with his back to the stone wall, Ori seated on his lap with his head on the warrior‘s shoulder. Bofur was still playing melancholy songs, even though the torches were already put out.

'Dwalin,' Ori murmured.

'Hmm?'

'Have you been in love before?'

'Yes,' Dwalin’s hand was stroking his, like he always did. Ori kept gazing at the stars. Some nights they could see them through their small window with bars. They twinkled and shone as if everything was precisely the way it should be in this world.

'Was it like this?'

'There is a difference between being in love and loving, Ori,' Dwalin answered, pressing a soft kiss on his hair, 'so it had never been like this...'

A cloud had hidden the stars momentarily and darkness covered everything. When they shined again, Ori remebered that night in Shire, all those days ago. How Master Dwalin held his injured wrist. How, when he looked at him, it seemed to him that the world had disappeared, leaving only the two of them and stars... It looked like this then...

He intertwined his fingers with Dwalin’s. In these past days it crossed his mind many times that he could be with Dwalin the way they were in Beorn’s house... But even though they were alone in their cell, the others were still close and could hear everything... He knew his brothers next door would hear every moan, every gasp and it would hurt them... So he tried very hard not to think about those nights in Beorn's house.

But now, looking at the stars... he could feel it rushing back with a mighty force, all that desire, all that passion he felt for the warrior and tried to suppress for days.

He turned to look at Dwalin, who was watching him intently.

'We can’t here...' Dwalin whispered, his voice hoarse and full of something Ori could hear in his own voice as he answered.

'I know...'

They kept gazing into each other’s eyes with only the starlight around them. And then, at the same time, almost as if some secret signal was given, both reached for the other and kissed. Their soft morning kisses couldn’t compare to this... This was a burning kiss, desperate and passionate. They did go for far too long without kissing each other this way, without touching each other like this...

Ori was sitting on Dwalin now, with his legs around the warrior’s hips. Dwalin’s arms slipping under his shirt, stroking his naked skin, pushing him closer to himself. Ori broke off the kiss to catch a breath, panting slightly, still looking at Dwalin. The warrior bent down and kissed him on his neck, Ori shivering in his arms. 'Once we have a home of our own,' Dwalin was saying in between tiny kisses and then looked up at Ori, 'I’ll make love to you every night...'

Somewhere at the end of the corridor the door to one cell opened. Someone whispered something and Kili’s enthusiastic voice answered silently, 'Brilliant, and what’s the escape plan?'

'Well,' Mr. Baggins’s voice hesitated as he opened another door, 'there is a chance you won’t like it...'

Ori and Dwalin heard nothing of it. And when Mr. Baggins opened their door, they were still sitting there, looking at each other. 


	10. Vanishing into the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 10, in which Bilbo beats Gloin, everybody enjoys a nice adventurous ride... and then gets sick..... :)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Vanishing into the Light

They were escaping from the Elvenking’s prison in empty barrels.

When Mr. Baggins explained his plan Ori knew it was an idea even Gloin couldn’t come up with. But he didn’t say anything and neither did Thorin. However most of the others expressed their doubts and reluctance very readily. And very justly too, given how things went on...

They had to be quiet and swift, each one of them climbing into his barrel and Mr. Baggins running around sealing up their lids. There was no time to talk, except for the occasional murmur of dissatisfaction.

Only Ori and Thorin were left, when the hobbit approached the king. Ori didn’t want to stare but couldn’t very well turn around in his barrel.

Mr. Baggins was whispering something to the king, eyes fixed on the floor and Ori noticed that his hands were shaking, the wax of his candle dripping to the floor. Thorin whispered something in answer but Mr. Baggins shook his head, still peering at the ground.

The king was looking at him for a moment and then with a great effort stood up in his barrel, pulling the hobbit to himself. And Mr. Baggins dropped his candle, grasped Thorin’s shirt and buried his head in the king’s chest.

Thorin held him for a moment and then cupped his cheeks, kissing his burglar, and whispered some more, upon which the hobbit nodded and reached for the lid lying nearby. Before he closed Thorin’s barrel, Ori could see him kissing the king one last time.

Ori looked at the barrel in which his Dwalin was hidden. It was far too little for someone so big as the warrior... What if he doesn't have enough air? What if he suffocates? What if he himself drowns on the way from Mirkwood? They would never see each other again...

He had a sudden urge to climb from his barrel and ran to Dwalin, get him out too. They could go back to their cell, they could be there together, safe...

Mr. Baggins came to him and they looked at each other without words. Both understanding what the other was thinking. There was too much at stake here... Maybe freedom wasn’t worth risking it all...

*****

It took the longest time for the elves to come and push the barrels into river. Ori must have fallen asleep because when he hit the water it came as a nasty shock. He could hear more splashing sounds behind him as more and more barrels were dropped into the river.

He was moving too fast, he could feel it, the water spinning him, tossing him to the left and right in the never-ending cycle. He groped the walls of his barrel, looking for any sign that the water was leaking in but found nothing.

That should have been of some comfort but it wasn’t. It seemed to him that the river was moving faster and faster. From time to time he would hit a cave wall or maybe a riverbank with such a force that he got bruised and then the impact sent him in a different direction, spinning his barrel in the wild waves even more...

And he tried, he tried very hard to endure it but it went on like that forever. The river never slowed down, never reached any shallow waters... And he started to get sick, all that spinning and endless rocking on waves, all those collisions with things that were harder than his barrel...

Many hours had passed since they left the dungeon in Mirkwood but their journey seemed to take no end...

There wasn’t a part of his body that wouldn’t hurt, he was freezing because the water in the river was cold and got weary from trying to keep the barrel in one position...

And then, just before they finally reached the shallow water where the elves bound all the barrels together, he hit a sharp rock hidden in the river and it made a small hole in his barrel... He plugged it with one of his mittens, and then the relief of being motionless at last overcame him and he passed out...

When he came around, some hours later, he was moving again though this time in a little bit calmer waters, the barrels bound to his were knocking into him every now and then. It would have lulled him to sleep but he was cold, so cold... He wanted to move his legs a little to get the blood to flow into them because he had been sitting in the same position for the whole night and he couldn’t feel them anymore.

But as he did so, he felt something move around him... the water! He streched his hands down and realized he was sitting in it, his barrel was halfway filled water! He tried to find the place where he had stuffed his mitt before but couldn’t. His legs were already numb with cold and if he kept his hands in the water for too long, groping the bottom looking for any holes, his fingers became stiff as well. He tried to push open the lid then, but couldn’t move it at all...

A panic seized him. He couldn’t get out of his barrel. He tried calling for help. He called Dwalin, his brothers, every single member of the company... but he knew they couldn’t hear his voice over the sound of waves... And even if they could, they wouldn’t be able to help him, they were stuck in their barrels too...

He held his legs closer to his chest, hugging them with his arms. Was this the end then?

He felt a terrible grief and sorrow. What will his brothers do when they find him? They will be inconsolable... He knew they loved him. They will think about these past days, how they didn’t talk to each other and it will break their hearts... Warm tears were now silently running down his cheeks. The last time he spoke with Dori, he shouted at him...

He could feel the water by his shoulders now...

He will never see his nice little home with garden full of white blossoms. Dwalin will never come there, he will never kiss him on the threshold, will never take him in his arms and make love to him as he promised...

Master Dwalin. His Dwalin. What will happen to him? Because Ori knew now. He knew the warrior had never loved anyone the way he loved him... Ori should have told him sooner. He should have told him he loved him back in Blue Mountains, any time he came to visit. They would have had more time together...

What will Master Dwalin only do... He will blame himself that he couldn’t protect him. He will blame himself for not saving him in the end. He will live in pain...

Ori opened his eyes. He couldn’t allow that, he promised himself he won’t let any more pain come into Dwalin’s life! He raised his frozen hands and started hitting the lid with all the strength he could gather. Again and again. The water in the barrel was up to his chin now, splashing around as he moved, banging into the lid and then it suddenly flew into his mouth and went down into his lungs...

*****

Ori woke up and looked around. He was back home in Blue Mountains. Lying on his bed. Only there was more light than he remebered coming from the window... He stretched and realized his whole body was stiff, as if he had been lying for days.

Somebody clutched his arm with small warm hands.

'You’re awake.'

Ori turned his head to look to whom the voice belonged. And there was Mr. Baggins, smiling at him happily, his eyes all red.

'Mr. Baggins?' Ori asked surprised. What was the hobbit doing in Blue Mountains?

'I am so very glad! We thought... ' he looked at the little dwarf with very sad eyes, 'I’m so sorry...' Ori had no idea what he was talking about.

'Do you remember?' Mr. Baggins continued after studying his face for a moment, 'The barrels...'

The barrels...

And then it began to dawn on him. He wasn’t at home after all, he looked at the bed again, it only looked like his own. The room was all made of wood, all sorts of wood... Where were they?

'The Lake Town,' Mr. Baggins answered his unspoken question.

'What happened? There was water...'

The hobbit took a shaky breath, still holding Ori’s hand. 'It’s all my fault. I should have thought of something better...'

And then he told him all about how the elves finally got the barrels to the Lake Town but he couldn’t let the dwarves out because the elves were still there. And when they finally left, he started opening the barrels only there were too many of them and it took a long time to find all his companions. They were all in a very bad shape, but Thorin had some strength to help him. One by one they brought the other dwarves to the shore. But they couldn’t find Ori, because by then his barrel was nearly whole sunken under water.

Thorin carried him to the shore then, but they all thought he was dead.

'You were so very pale and cold... ' Mr. Baggins’s eyes shone with tears, 'You are very dear to me, Ori, you are like my family... when I though we’ve lost you... And all because of me, because I couldn’t think of a better plan...' he looked at the dwarf, tears streaming down his face, 'please forgive me, Ori, I am so very sorry...'

Ori grasped the hobbit’s hands in his, 'But I’m all right, Mr. Baggins, there is no harm done! Unless... you forgot to bring my mitten from the barrel, I tried to block the hole with it, you see...'

The hobbit was staring at him and then burst out laughing.

'I’m afraid I’ll have to go and find it, my dear Ori.'

And then on Ori’s request he went on with his story. How Thorin spoke to the people of the town, telling them who they were and what they were about to do, and all the townsfolk cheered and invited them to stay. They provided them with this house till they all recovered and could continue with their quest. So they brought Ori here. And that was a week ago.

'So all the others are safe then?' Ori asked.

'Yes, you and your brothers were the worst. But they both came to themselves two days ago.'

'And Dwalin?'

Mr. Baggins shot a nervous look at him.

'He’s... at good health.'

Ori sat up in his bed, his head spinning lightly as he moved too quickly, 'What’s wrong? Where is he?'

The burglar was fidgeting with one last button on his waistcoat.

'He was here with you all the time,' he said quietly. 'When Thorin and I couldn’t find you in the water, he went to help. He was so sick but still he went looking for you too. And then when we found you and Thorin laid you on the ground, he...'

The hobbit looked at Ori with sad eyes and went on, 'I had never seen such a sorrow before. He fell on his knees next to you and he looked like the life itself had left him. Like at any moment he will fall too... Thorin tried to comfort him. I-I told him about you two, I thought he already knew, I didn’t realize... But then suddenly Dwalin pushed Thorin aside and started pressing your chest, as if that might make your heart start beating again. He looked so terrifying, I thought he had gone mad. He kept muttering ' _I said I will never leave you_ '... And it worked. He got a good deal of water out of you, but you still wouldn’t wake... He never left your side for all these days. And than Nori and Dori recovered...'

Ori had the most horrible feeling.

'Where are they?'

'Well, when they heard about you, they wanted to come but they were too sick, so Dori came only this morning. And Dwalin was here, naturally, and they... they got into a fight... Thorin and Bofur had to pull them apart, you see, and then Thorin said he wanted to talk to them and they had been with him ever since...'

Ori was staring at the hobbit. Dwalin had saved his life, how could his brothers possibly deny him to be by his side? How could they deny him anything?

And what if Thorin took Dori’s side? He had to go to them, he had to stop this... But Mr. Baggins’s arms pushed him back to bed.

'You mustn’t go anywhere, you are too weak. I‘ll go and tell them you are awake,' he ran to the door and there he turned around and smiled at him, 'I’m sure it will be all right.'

There was a silence and Ori kept looking at the ceiling. They should have stayed at the elvish prison, they should have stayed there till the end of their days. Nobody could separate them from each other there...

He heard fast footsteps in the corridor. He wished with his whole heart that it was Dwalin. Suddenly he couldn’t imagine facing Dori... not if he hadn’t seen his Dwalin first... He was afraid of what he might hear if it was his brother...

Then the door flew open and Dwalin was there. Standing on the threshold, looking at him almost as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. It seemed to Ori as if he was standing amidst the whitest light as the sun was pouring into his room, illuminating the door; he looked like some vision from his legends. But he was real and Ori laughed, he didn’t really know why he did it but he felt such an immense relief and happiness. He was alive and his Dwalin was here.

He jumped out of bed, his legs almost giving up beneath him and ran to Dwalin, the warrior meeting him halfway through the room. Crushing him in a hug. But Ori didn’t care. He could hear Dwalin laughing as well. Such a nice, precious sound.

The warrior was holding him in his arms, lifting him up so that Ori’s feet weren’t touching the floor at all. They wouldn’t have held him today anyway...

'Thank you,' Ori whispered. Were it not for Dwalin, he wouldn’t be here. Were he not fighting for them, they wouldn’t be standing here like this...

Dwalin was looking at him, taking in every little part of Ori’s happy face, 'I was so worried...' He kissed him. Gently and slowly as if making sure Ori was really there. Warm and breathing. And then hugged him again, getting them as close to each other as possible.

And Ori tangled his arms around Dwalin’s neck, laying head on his shoulder and pressing lips to the bare skin there.

'You need to rest and get well soon,' Dwalin whispered, his own lips on Ori’s forehead, 'Are you hungry? I can-'

'No,' Ori answered, holding on to him tighter, 'don’t leave.'

Dwalin chuckled, went to Ori’s bed and laid him down. Then got into the bed as well, climbing behind Ori, wrapping him in his arms and kissing his neck. 'I won’t.' 


	11. And Only Good Things Remain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ori look at Dwalin because he is in love with him or is he in love with him because he is constantly looking at him? Pointless, really. Now, does Dwalin look back? That is the question. 
> 
> Chapter 11, in which there is a craftily hidden déjà vu, Ori gets a lot of food (that gets eaten) and some things are allowed ;)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### And Only Good Things Remain

'Well, get well soon, laddie,' Balin winked at him and turned to leave the room. Ori was looking after him, his cheeks completely red.

He was so busy worrying about Dori and Nori, that he forgot that Dwalin also had a brother in their company... And precisely that brother now came to visit him, and with the help of lots of metaphors told him that Dwalin’s being with Ori was not bothering him at all. At least that’s what Ori thought he meant... But as the older dwarf was neither frowning at him, nor shouting at him, he believed he understood correctly.

Right after Master Dwalin curled up next to him that morning, he fell asleep immediately but was up again in an hour, mighty hungry. Dwalin laughed at his expression when he told him, kissed him lightly and went to find something to eat. When he came back however, he looked rather cross and told Ori that Thorin demanded his presence during the meeting with Master of the town. And that was where he was now...

Ori gobbled down all the freshly baked crispy buns Dwalin brought him and then suddenly there came a knock on the door.

Ori was staring at it, scared all of a sudden. He was so happy that it was Dwalin who came to him earlier that he didn’t even ask what Thorin said to him and Dori. Or how did his brother react to it... What if it was Dori behind the door, coming to tell him that he doesn’t care one bit about what the king says? That he doesn’t care about the quest anymore either and that he, Nori and Ori are returning to the Blue Mountains and Ori should pack his things quickly? He had to know Dwalin wasn’t there to stop him...

'Come in,' he called in what he hoped was a confident voice.

And then there was Bofur and Bifur, both laden with nice fat sausages. They laid them on his small table and then hugged him, smiling like this was the best day of the whole year. And so far it really was, Ori thought as he smiled back at them.

'I bet Dwalin didn’t get you a breakfast this good, eh? You mustn’t let him off too easily, lad. You want something better, you tell him,' Bofur was leaning closer to Ori on his chair, conspiratorial smile on his lips, Bifur next to him nodding and chuckling good-heartedly. Ori could feel his cheeks heating up and turned his gaze to his blanket.

Well, this was to be expected, really. All of them would know he and Dwalin were together by now. But somehow, Ori had the strangest feeling that Bofur wasn’t really talking about food... He chanced a glance at them. Bofur kept chattering on about the town and people, his cousin grunting from time to time in agreement or disagreement. Neither of them seemed particularly bothered about him and the warrior... Could it be they didn’t mind?

'Well, we shouldn’t keep you from your rest,' Bofur said in the end and got up from his chair. Then, after studying Ori’s face for a minute, smiled widely and ruffled his hair, 'Don’t you fret, laddie, everything’s going to be fine.'

Almost at the same moment the door closed behind them, another knock came.

Fili and Kili peeked inside and, after assuring themselves that Ori was alone, crowded into the room. They hugged him while telling him he was too skinny and conjured up a delicious looking cake out of nowhere. Then took the chairs Bofur and Bifur had vacated and just like them went on chattering about nothing in particular. Although much more giggling was involved this time. Ori almost started to hope that Dwalin and he won’t be mentioned, when -

'Mind you, we were so surprised when we heard...' Fili was saying looking at him cheerfully.

'Yes, we were. Though, of course, we noticed something in that damn forest, after the spiders...' Kili added, wide smile on his lips too.

'But that could have been anything... a misunderstanding, maybe...'

'Yes, and of course we heard about that argument in prison. Later, though, from Bombur. We were sleeping when it happened, you see... '

'So we found out for sure only today, when there was that fight...'

'You should have seen it, Ori...'

'But of course, it didn’t come as such a shock as when uncle told us about him...'

'And Mr. Boggins... Did you know, Ori?' Poor Ori was looking from one to another, mouth slightly open and nodded.

'Well, naturally, there’s no reason for them not to be together...'

'Exactly, uncle has us after all, we can ascend the throne. We are his heirs...'

'I believe you meant _I_ can ascend the throne. I am older that you...'

And on and on they went, eating all the sausages Bofur and Bifur brought and Ori smiling to himself as he listened to them. So Thorin told everyone about him and Mr. Baggins... Did he do that so that Dori could see and understand there was nothing wrong about that? That no shame had to befall on their families? Ori was so grateful he couldn’t even put it into words... Perhaps his brother understood now and that was why he let Dwalin come to him, instead of rushing there himself... Yes, that could be it...

Once Fili and Kili left, another knock sounded and in came Bombur with what appeared to be a whole roasted goose... Just like his companions before, he hugged the little dwarf, sat down and helped himself to some cake.

By now Ori strongly suspected that everyone was waiting for Dwalin to leave the room so they could visit him without being frowned upon for disturbing his rest.

Bombur was telling him about the magnificent cooks and food the Lake Town seemed to be full of.

'They do also have some decent bakehouses and one or two really talented confectioners... Now that I mention them, there is one especially lovely confectioner down at the south end of the town. You should ask Dwalin to take you there, she can do the best fudge I have ever tasted... and there is a nice view of the lake when the sun sets... Or there is another in-'

A small smile spread once again across Ori’s lips, his pink cheeks turning red. He didn’t know why but there was something embarrassing about the effortlessness with which everyone seemed to accept him and Dwalin as they were. It seemed the most natural thing to them. He himself couldn’t talk about them so easily... He should ask Master Dwalin if he had the same trouble...

And when Bombur finished Ori’s cake, Balin knocked on the door and replaced Bombur on one of the chairs beside Ori’s bed, eyeing the goose with obvious craving.

Ori thought that this was how Mr. Baggins must have felt when the dwarves were arriving into his home one by one... Only he had it worse because he didn’t know any of them and didn’t know what exactly to expect...

So when Balin left, Ori was not at all surprised to hear another knock on the door. What surprised him however was that this time it was Nori who looked inside...

*****

They were standing on the highest floor of their house, looking at the town from the balcony. The house, just like everything else in the town, seemed to be made only of wood. The streets below were full of flowers, happy loud laughter and people rushing in all directions. It was a nice town, certainly one of the best Ori had ever visited. It buzzed with life... Everywhere he looked he could see the waters of the lake in the distance, shimmering in the midday sun. The water calm today, without a single wave...

He kept looking at the people, fascinated. He hadn’t seen so many Men before... They were all so tall and slender, almost like the elves, only the townsfolk of Lake Town seemed much more pleasant...

His gaze fell on the unfamiliar fruit in his hand.

'Can I come in?' Nori asked when he opened the door to Ori’s room. Nori was very polite, for a dwarf.

Ori nodded and his brother approached the bed, holding a bowl that he passed to him. Inside were five big, deeply violet, fruits.

'Do you remember them? You used to love them as a child,' Nori smiled a little, 'You always ate the whole basket of them and got all your teeth blue... They used to grow around the Blue Mountains but then they suddenly stopped... It’s been decades since I last saw them. I’m afraid I had forgotten our name for them... they call them something else here...'

Ori clutched the bowl tightly. He didn’t remember them, he must have been really small back then. But Nori brought them to him now, he remembered he used to like them. He could feel tears coming into his eyes. Maybe Nori didn’t hate him that much... despite all this...

'I’m so sorry, Ori,' Nori whispered all of a sudden, 'I’m so sorry about everything...'

And Ori was suddenly in his arms, hugging his older brother and Nori hugged him back, ruffling his hair while doing so as he always did. And Ori was crying. Happy tears and sad tears, but most of all tears of relief. Nori was still his big brother, he was still there for him and he held him as he cried out all the tears he had to keep inside during their days in prison because if he cried then it would hurt Master Dwalin...

When he finally stopped, Nori’s eyes were also red but no so wet. He was older and tougher, after all. 

'How do you feel? Do you want to go upstairs and look at the town? Something in this room‘s making my eyes burn...' Nori asked and Ori nodded, even though his brother looked just as pale as him.

He hadn’t been out of bed for a week and that short moment in the morning didn’t count because Master Dwalin was holding him. He was anxious to get outside, to see the town before they have to leave it again to continue with their journey...

He turned around from the people of the Lake Town now to look at Nori who was sitting in the shadow of the roof, smoking a pipe and watching him. He didn’t really know what to say...

Nori opened his mouth to say something at that moment too, thought better of it and motioned for Ori to sit next to him instead. And Ori did, stretching his legs so that the sun fell on them, warming him.

'Are you cold?' Nori asked him.

'No, it’s nice and warm here...'

'I didn’t know,' Nori blurted out suddenly, 'I didn’t know he was that important for you... That you were so important for him. I... we thought that he was just using you. You are so young and innocent, Ori, you have no idea what some people are capable of... And then we never knew that you... well, you never told us...'  

Ori clutched his fruit, 'I was ashamed...' He will have to make new mitts, they were huge help in cases like this...

Nori looked at him, his expression sad. 'You didn’t need to be, we are your brothers. Though... we haven’t been acting like that lately... I hope you’ll forgive us one day... for the way we treated you. And Dwalin, too. I suppose we should have seen it in the forest. The way you run to him, I should have known you wouldn’t run like that to anyone you didn’t care for deeply... And the way he held you... well, one does not hold someone he’s just using for fun like that...

But you must understand, Ori - Dori saw him looking at you by the river like... like... Well, he told me and I did agree with him because I saw him looking at you like that at Beorn’s house too. I didn’t think anything about it then but when Dori told me... Not all warriors are nice people like Thorin or Fili, some are wicked, and innocent lads like you are just a nice game for them... so that’s what we thought Dwalin was doing. He is the strongest one of them I know and one does not simply expect him to fall in love...'

'He loves me, he cares about me,' Ori couldn’t stand it. How could anyone suspect Master Dwalin of such a thing?

Nori smiled at him, 'Yes, no one in here can possibly deny that.' He put the pipe in his mouth again and turned to look at the lake in the distance. 'He was even willing to give you up so that you wouldn’t have to choose beween us, wasn’t he?'

Ori looked at him questioningly. How could he...

'Bombur told me. He has some very good ears,' Nori explained, smiling again. 'And then today Thorin told us how Dwalin saved your life on that shore... You are my dearest little brother, Ori. I couldn’t stand losing you... And if being with Dwalin is what you want, then you should be with him.'

Ori hugged him. He wanted to tell Nori, that he was very dear to him too. He wanted to tell him how much this meant to him and how forever grateful he will be, but couldn’t. His voice broke when he tried so he hugged his older brother instead. And maybe Nori understood all this because he hugged him back and chuckled, 'There, there, you’re making me look like a good guy now.'

And Ori laughed as well, his head still on Nori’s shoulder, smoke from his pipe floating around him slowly...

'And Dori...?'

Nori sighed, 'You know how Dori is, he has his own head. He may come to his senses eventually, but there is no rushing him... But don’t you go worrying about him. There won’t be any more scenes or fights... I could have stopped him this morning but I wasn't there... Thorin sent for me when it was already over, he wanted to talk to us. And I think Dori understands now, it will just take more time for him to make peace with it...

Well, given that you and Dwalin are a couple now, you can sleep and eat by his side according to traditions. So you don’t have to sneak around anymore. Yes, I have heard about that as well...'  

Ori turned red. And here he thought that nobody noticed anything... But he can eat and sleep next to Master Dwalin now. It wasn‘t like he hadn’t been doing that already but now it was allowed, approved of. It was... it was...

The door to the balcony flew open and there was Dwalin, Mr. Baggins close behind him.

'Is he there?' the hobbit breathed as if he had run far too many stairs.

'Yeah,' Dwalin grunted as he was looking at Ori and Nori sitting on the floor there, clearly wondering what was going on and how hostile the current situation was.

Mr. Baggins’s head appeared behind the warrior, 'Thank goodness! Oh, and I brought you back such nice strawberries and I dropped them all...'

'Why?'

'Well, Dori’s not here and when we couldn’t find neither you nor Nori, one cannot blame us for jumping to conclusions...'

But before Ori could ask another question Nori stood up helping his little brother to his feet as well.

'I’ll go look for him, don’t worry. You stay here and eat something before you go to bed,' and with that Nori went for the door, stopping for a moment in front of Dwalin.

'Dwalin,' he said, nodding his head a little.

The warrior was looking at him searchingly before nodding as well, 'Nori.' And Nori smiled and vanished behind the door, followed by the burglar, still muttering about nice ripe strawberries.

Dwalin and Ori stood there for a moment, looking at each other until Ori couldn’t stand it any longer and blurted out, smiling: 'I can eat and sleep with you now!'

'What?'

'That’s what Nori said, he said I can eat and sleep by your side from now...'

A smile flickered across Dwalin’s face, 'Yes, _by your side_ would be the key words here... I'm glad... about you and Nori...' He coughed a little, 'Do you want me to help you down to your room? I dare say you walked the whole way up here by yourself...'

But Ori didn’t move and looked at the lake instead. Its calm waters slowly turning into orange as the sun started its descend, those same waters that nearly separated them forever. There were so many things that tried to separate them, but they fought them all. Fought them all so they could be together. He could see the peak of the Lonely Mountain in the distance, far away across the lake. And they’ll have to fight some more.

He turned around to look at the warrior again and then slowly walked to him, putting his arms around his waist and leaning his head on Dwalin’s chest. Every single second with him was precious.

' _Sleep by your side_. Does that mean you can sleep in my room now?'

'Yes,' Dwalin whispered, embracing Ori as well and kissing the top of his head gently. 

'Then I would be very grateful if you helped me down to _our_ room.' 


	12. White Remembrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12, in which Mr. Baggins is worried, Ori gets lost in memories and the Lonely Mountain is suddenly closer than he thought...

# Don't Ask Me Why

### White Remembrance

The plan to leave the Lake Town next morning was made few days ago, but most of the dwarves still crammed around their big table, heads bent over the old maps, discussing every little detail loudly for the hundredth time.

Only Bombur was sleeping on one of the benches and Fili and Kili were huddled in the opposite corner, giggling about something. Ori caught the word 'cute' from time to time.

He looked at Mr. Baggins next to him. The hobbit was peering at the table, looking utterly miserable. He had been like that for few days now, but today it was worse. Everytime Ori asked what was wrong, he would just shake his head, smile and say that it was nothing. But Ori knew something was bothering him deeply...

'I told you this passage is useless, it’s been blocked even before Smaug came. We need to go this way,' Thorin’s voice thundered over the others.

'But there is no passage on the map here. How can you be sure there is a way?' Gloin objected.

'Because I remember every single part of the mountain. I remember every little stone as if it was only yesterday that I had been there and I’m telling you...'

Mr. Baggins took a shaky breath and turned to look at Ori, 'Let’s go out, shall we?'

...

'I’m afraid, Ori,' the hobbit whispered as they stood on the balcony, the town beneath them silent and peaceful. The balcony had lately become their safe haven whenever they wanted to talk to each other in private.

'Of the dragon?'

Mr. Baggins shook his head. 'Of what happens when the dragon is dead...'

'But there will be nothing to worry about when the dragon is dead!'

'For me, there will be...'

Ori didn’t understand. When the dragon is dead, they will have their treasure back. They will be wealthy and rebuild Erebor and all the dwarves will be able to come back and live there happily again, they... He hesitated. But Mr. Baggins was not a dwarf, and Erebor was never his home...

The hobbit’s eyes were searching his and he smiled sadly when he saw that Ori understood.

'You’ve heard the way Thorin speaks about the mountain. It was his home and he loved it there... Once it‘s his again he’ll never want to leave it. And I understand that, I just wish...' he fell silent.

'He loves you, too...'

'I know he does,' Mr. Baggins nodded softly. 'But he loves the Lonely Mountain just as much as I love my Shire as well. I’m not a dwarf, I could never live in your deep dark caverns and Thorin is a king. He could never be happy at Hobbiton where not much ever happens... So what will happen to us when the dragon is slain and our quest finished?'

'And the treasure,' he went on, fidgeting with his buttons and Ori realized that he had all of them again. And really pretty ones too, as if made of some shiny shells... 'When Thorin talks about it, I can’t help but think that he would be willing to lay down his life for it... and the Arkenstone... I don’t want that, Ori. I can’t bear the thought of him getting hurt... But at the same time I have this feeling that it is precisely what’s going to happen out there at the mountain. I’ve had that feeling ever since we came here. But I know I can’t stop him from going there, no one can...'

Ori winced. Mr. Baggins had proven many times that his forebodings were not to be taken lightly. He knew of course that Smaug was powerful and dangerous but until now he believed, with no doubt at all, that they could slay him without any of them getting seriously injured... What if the dragon kills Thorin? What will they do? Or Master Dwalin...

'Either way things will not be the same as they are now,' the hobbit continued quietly, gazing toward the horizon where the Lonely Mountain stood, even though he couldn’t see it in the darkness, 'if it could only stay like this forever... I know Thorin doesn’t think about it now but once he is on his throne, I think he’ll realize. That I am not one of you and I don‘t belong here. That I don’t belong by his side...'

Ori seized the burglar’s hand, 'Don’t say that, Mr. Baggins! You belong together, everyone can see that! And if you can’t stay here and Thorin can’t go with you to the Shire, then... then you’ll just have to find another place where you could be happy together!'

But the hobbit was looking at him and the helplessness in his eyes didn’t lessen...

*****

Ori sat huddled at the rear end of the ship, knees close to his chest and ponies blocking his view of the Lonely Mountain which grew bigger and bigger as they were getting closer.

The weather changed over night and where only yesterday was the purest blue sky, there now stood grey and heavy clouds without moving. Like some vicious observers only waiting for the right moment to start a fierce thunderstorm and send them all to the depths of the lake.

Even the water had changed. It was wilder and scarier, its waves crashing into their ship with remarkable strength, rocking the vessel. Ori clapped his hands over his ears, he couldn’t stand the sound of the waves. It was as if he was back in that barrel again... He knew this was different, but still...

He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else.

His beloved stories, the brooches he made, warm delicious chips, flowers around Beorn’s house, his nice soft bed back at the Lake Town... and Dwalin. Master Dwalin coming back from his travels and telling him all those stories; him engraving those same stories into his brooches, hoping one day Dwalin will see them and understand; Dwalin bringing him chips at Rivendell and then spending the night beside him for the first time; flowers shaped like Dwalin’s emblem, flowers that were to grow around their home; and that soft bed on which the warrior had laid him every single night since the day he woke up there...

Dwalin’s soft lips kissing him, his strong hands taking off his clothes slowly, his hot breath on his skin, his warm body on top of his...

Ori couldn’t believe it then. This time there were no goblins who could open the cracks in ground, no dwarves who could unexpectedly enter the room, no brothers who could come rushing in to take him away... It was just them, in a locked room that was theirs. He could kiss and touch Master Dwalin all he wanted without feeling guilty because now it was permitted, expected. They were a couple and that made everything even more exhilarating... 

Dwalin was careful with him that first night, worried he still didn’t have enough strength after being ill for so long. His kisses tender and slow, his hands gentle, caressing his whole body with utmost patience and love.

And it felt like years since they were at Beorn’s house and even though Ori thought about it all the time, having Dwalin touch him again was nothing like his memories.

It was as if there was a fire hidden in his blood and the warrior’s mere touch was enough to set it ablaze. And it kept burning and its roaring was soon the only thing Ori could hear, wanted to hear. Only Dwalin’s voice could penetrate the flames that surrounded him, reaching Ori like the most delicious spring rain... Soothing the heat for sweet fleeting moments, so that the fire inside him could burn even more radiantly after that...

And Ori loved it, loved the heat Dwalin’s body brought to him. In his mind the warrior was the fire-bringer and the rainstorm-bearer, igniting the passion inside him, while at the same time soothing away any pain...

There was something inside him that became alive only with Dwalin’s touch and made him more aware of the world around him. He could run his fingers across the blanket, feeling its every thread, he could open his eyes in the darkness and see every annual ring on the beams, every tiny spider web... He could look at Master Dwalin and see all the shades of green in his irises as he watched him, lips pressed to his stomach. He wondered if Dwalin could see all those things too...

Dwalin pulled him down a little, beneath himself and kissed his lips again and Ori’s arms wrapped around his waist, fingers wandering over his strong back. He could feel Dwalin’s frantic breath on his lips and only then realized that he was panting equally rapidly, quiet moans escaping his lips as the warrior stroked his sides and hips.

One of Ori‘s hands slipped unconsciously to Dwalin’s backside, caressing it and the warrior took a sudden deep breath that vibrated through Ori’s whole body and made him gasp with the sensation. His hardness pressed into Ori’s belly with that motion and the little dwarf had to close his eyes and try to calm himself a little. One more movement like that and there would be no way back for him. And he wanted this to last longer, to last for eternity...

He opened his eyes again after a while because the warrior hasn’t moved, only his chest was heaving with heavy uneven breathing. His eyes were fixed on Ori and it seemed to him as if Dwalin was also trying to calm himself. He didn’t understand what he had done...

'What did I...' he whispered but Dwalin stopped him by pressing his fingertips to Ori’s lips gently.

He took another deep breath, 'Nothing, you didn’t do anything. It’s just that...' Dwalin ran his hand across his face and took one more deep breath since those first ones didn’t seem to help. He fixed his gaze on Ori again and upon seeing his alarmed expression, kissed him lightly. 'There are more... ways, for us to make love and the way you touched me... well...'

Ori kept looking at Dwalin’s face and it seemed to him that the warrior’s cheeks were more flushed than before. More ways...

'Will you show me?' Ori asked, sliding his hands to the warrior’s sides.

'Yes,' Dwalin whispered after a while, his voice hoarse, 'when you are more used to this, to us...' He kissed him again.

What other ways could there possibly be? What could even remotely feel as good as this? He kept gazing into the warrior’s eyes. If Master Dwalin didn’t want to show him, there may be a risk of him getting hurt in some way... But that would be all right. If it was him, if it were his hands. Those same hands that were already burning his skin...

'Y-you could show me just some of it,' he couldn’t believe that he was saying that. It was both inappropriate and embarrassing... if Master Dwalin didn’t want to... But the thing was, the way Dwalin looked at him... it seemed to him that the warrior wanted to but was restraining himself. Why...?

Dwalin kissed him then. Passionately, roughly. All the previous worry about Ori’s illness forgotten. And Ori kissed him back in the same way, fingers digging in the warrior’s shoulders. Dwalin pressed him closer to himself, half raising him from the bed in his arms as he positioned himself in between Ori’s legs and on top of him again.

His lips left Ori’s and kissed his throat instead. And Ori moaned and panted, his hands leaving Dwalin’s shoulders and grasping the little pillow that was no longer under his head. He clutched it desperately as the warrior’s lips continued on their painfully slow way down to his stomach. He didn’t remember it feeling this way. The things he felt at Beorn’s house seemed like mere shadows of things he was feeling now.

He couldn’t survive this. There was too much to feel...

Dwalin’s lips reached his stomach, only this time they didn’t stop. His rough thumb caressed Ori’s left hip and his mouth followed there, moving on to the silky skin of the younger dwarf’s inner thigh... But that was... too close... He could feel his mind being obscured by some strange white mist, it covered him and prevented him from putting the sentence together, from thinking at all... All there now was were Master Dwalin’s lips on his skin. Scorching it in the most delicious way...

And then those lips reached places where he never... could never... that...

His hands dropped the pillow and came to his own mouth to stifle the cry that suddenly built up in his throat and that the whole Lake Town would have heard...

He didn’t even know what he wanted to cry out, all he could feel and see were Master Dwalin’s fingers and lips and tongue, all stroking him at once and he couldn’t breathe...

He was panting frantically but no air was reaching his lungs. His whole body was on fire and there was no stopping it. Was that why Master Dwalin didn’t want to show him? Because he will die? He didn’t care, he didn’t care! He would die anytime to feel like this, to see his Dwalin doing this... He could see Dwalin’s hot wet tongue caressing him. There was no escaping from this, he couldn’t take his eyes off his strong warrior...

The heat inside him was reaching his pounding heart now and Ori knew the moment it got there, his heart would burst and then stop beating. With each Dwalin’s stroke, even the tiniest one, the heat was getting closer, the rest of his body blazing already. It was too hot, he could feel the drops of sweat running over his skin... He needed to tell him, one last time before it was too late...

'I love you,' he whispered with a raspy voice that sounded nothing like his own.

Dwalin’s eyes met his. With one swift yet careful movement he took them both in his hand and reached out to kiss Ori. And the moment their lips met, the heat reached Ori‘s heart. 

He let out a cry that didn’t contain any words, only his joy, his love, his climax... He heard Dwalin’s own cry and then all he could see was the tender white light that took him in its gentle arms everytime, covering him, penetrating him and spreading through him. Filling him with happiness so immense that there couldn’t possibly be any other person in the whole wide world more happy than him...

...

The ship shook a little as it reached the shore and Ori opened his eyes. Dwalin was just getting to his knee beside him, his expression concerned.

'Are you all right?' his hand caressing Ori’s cheek.

'Yes,' Ori nodded.

'We need to go. We must get all our things to the shore before the storm hits...' He rose to his feet, holding out a hand for Ori.

And as Ori straightened up on board their vessel, he looked up. And there, all across the horizon, the Lonely Mountain spread. They had reached the Desolation... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I have no idea where this came from....... :)


	13. It Is All For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13, in which Smaug is upset, the dwarves get a glimpse of gold and some have a very good reason to worry for their loved ones...

# Don't Ask Me Why

### It Is All For You

'I won’t let you, it’s too dangerous,' Thorin shook his head decisively as he stared down the dark tunnel.

'Well, what other option do we have?' Mr. Baggins implored, 'That’s what I am here for, after all...'

Thorin looked at him, his expression unreadable.

The others were standing close behind them. They had been so keen on finding the secret door and then so cheerful when they finally managed to open it, that none of them thought about what will happen next.

Ori didn’t really know what they all expected to find behind the door but judging from their expressions, a long dark tunnel wasn’t anyone’s guess. It probably should have been though... He himself was hoping for a nice chamber, stuffed with gold and jewels, as some reserve vault, so they could take as much as they could carry and run away with it. The longer he was there, the less he liked the Lonely Mountain...

The only one who didn’t look disappointed or surprised at all was their burglar. Mr. Baggins looked like this was precisely what he expected but wasn’t very happy about...

He took out his magical ring and told Thorin he could go down the tunnel and see where it leads. And it seemed to Ori that he was actually eager to do so.

'Well, there’s a fine lad! Impatient to get us back our gold!' Gloin laughed and excitedly patted the hobbit’s back.

But Ori knew, from their talks and even as he looked at Mr. Baggins’s expression, that that wasn’t the case at all. He was impatient, that much was true, to go down the tunnel, get their treasure and somehow outsmart the dragon but not for them.

He wanted to do it for Thorin. So that he could get to his throne, become the king he was meant to be, realize there was no place for Mr. Baggins in his life, send him home and never see him again. That was what the burglar was dreading, that was what he thought was coming. He couldn’t leave himself, so he waited for Thorin to tell him. If it had to be that way, he wanted Thorin to be the one to finish it.

And now Thorin was looking at him, refusing to send him down the dark tunnel alone. He must know, Ori thought, he must know something isn’t right...

'Very well,' the king said, 'go. But be careful, you hear me? Anything seems wrong, you run straight back.' He caressed Mr. Baggin’s cheek and smiled at him a little at the dim light. The hobbit’s hand reached for Thorin’s and he intertwined his small fingers with his for a short moment before slipping the golden ring on. He disappeared and they could only hear his soft footsteps, before they too vanished in darkness.

*****

Ori was staring at the golden cup in his hands which Mr. Baggins brought back. It was magnificent, hundreds of years old but thanks to the dwarven magic shining as if only made yesterday. It was encrusted with emeralds as big as his thumb, each one a work of a truly gifted craftsman. What other treasures must still be down there!

He passed the cup to Kili next to him. The eyes of everyone around their little fire were fixed on it, even Mr. Baggins seemed under its spell when he first came back with it. But the hobbit’s eyes were focused again, now that he was back outside, breathing fresh air and the golden cup was of no more interest to him.

Ori looked at Dwalin. The warrior was staring into the fire, stroking his beard unconsciously, deep in his thoughts. Was he imagining the treasures beneath the mountain as well? Was he, like Thorin, thinking about the glory that Erebor could regain with it? Was he perhaps thinking about staying there, too...? That would be all right, they could have their home at Erebor. In his dreams he always imagined them being together at Blue Mountains after all, deep in their caverns with other dwarves... He wouldn’t be able to have his little garden or plant the white flowers but that wouldn’t matter...

But if he was honest with himself, it did matter... He imagined their home amidst the flowers so often that the thought of never seeing it hurt him...

But that wasn’t right. It was the same thing that was slowly separating Mr. Baggins and Thorin. And unlike the hobbit he was a dwarf, he could live under the mountain, he has been living there his whole life. If Master Dwalin wanted to stay in Erebor then he would stay there with him. Yes, definitely. There was no doubt about it.

Dwalin next to him turned to look at him, his eyes searching Ori’s .

'Well, now what?' asked Fili, taking the cup from his brother.

Nobody answered however because just at that moment a terrible, deafening roar sounded, shaking the mountain. Smaug had awoken and cried with rage.

They were all on their feet in an instant, watching as the rocks in the distance, where the Main gate stood, turned orange and the huge form of the dragon soared up to the sky. They scrambled to get to the tunnel and half of them was already inside when someone’s voice yelled: 'Bofur and Bombur are still down there!'

That was right. They had left the two of them below to guard their ponies and supplies...

'Get the ropes!' Thorin’s voice thundered over the roaring of the dragon and only with an immense dose of luck did they manage to hoist both of them up to safety before Smaug decided to look for the cup-thief on their side of the mountain.

Ori was standing on the edge of their little camp, watching as more and more trees in the distant forest were set ablaze by the dragon’s fire when Bombur finally stood next to him, breathing heavily as if he climbed the mountain himself instead of Dwalin, Fili and Kili doing all the work. He made for the hidden door immediately, followed by the younger dwarves.

'Ori, get ins-' Dwalin turned to him and the moment he did so, the frail edge, upon which he was standing while helping Bombur up, cracked and he went falling down.

And Ori reacted on instinct, having no time to think, falling on the ground himself and stretching his arm as far as he could. Later, he could never recall how he did it, but he managed to grasp the warrior’s hand, his weight almost pulling him down as well.

He dared to open his eyes, which he closed in the anticipation of missing Master Dwalin and loosing him. But the warrior was really there, looking down at the abyss beneath him. Smaug’s roaring seemed suddenly closer than before...

Dwalin scanned the rocks around him carefully before turning his gaze to Ori.

'I told you not to risk your life for anyone,' he said and Ori didn’t like the look in his eyes. He didn’t like it at all.

'You’re not just anyone!'

Dwalin was too heavy for him, he won’t be able to hold him for long. Where were the others? He loosened his grip on the rock and grasped Dwalin’s arm with both hands, looking over the edge a little.

But there was nothing, nothing Master Dwalin could stand on or even take a hold of. There was just a deep and ghastly space beneath him... Ori tried to prop up on his knees and pull the warrior up a little but couldn’t... he didn’t have enough strength...

He was panting now as he tried very hard to hold onto the warrior. He just had to keep holding Dwalin till someone came to help. Someone was bound to come and help! They’ll notice that they are missing! Unless... they ran deep into the tunnel to hide from Smaug and cannot see who’s there in the darkness... He felt panic seizing his heart... He called out for help but no answer came...

'Ori, listen to me,' Dwalin’s quiet voice, that voice with which he only spoke to him. And Ori knew the warrior was looking at him but couldn’t bring himself to look back. 'You’ve got to let go...'

He shuddered as he was staring at their hands, 'No.'

'If you don’t let go, you’ll fall as well...'

He shook his head, 'No.'

'Ori, please...'

Ori raised his eyes to Dwalin’s, his voice shaking, 'I can’t...'

They kept looking at each other and tears were silently falling down Ori‘s cheeks. He could feel Dwalin’s weight pulling him down with every second as he desperately clutched his arm. Dwalin’s eyes were so full of pain that just looking in them was breaking his heart. He wasn’t going to let go, he wasn’t, he wasn’t...

He was going to pull him up. He was going to save him, was going to survive all this with him, was going to go home with him, listen to his stories, kiss him, make love to him just like the warrior promised! No one was going to take that away from him! He was so angry that had he any more strength he would have screamed at the unfairness of it all.

'I don’t want you to fall with me!' a sudden anger filled Dwalin‘s voice, too, 'Let go damn it!!'

'No!' Ori shrieked, 'I’d rather die!'

There was a sudden and unexpected movement as someone fell on the ground beside him and Dwalin’s weight became lighter at once. He looked around and there was Dori, his hands clasped around his own, pulling Dwalin up with a strength significantly bigger than his.

'Ori, go and take a good hold of my legs,' Dori puffed. And Ori obeyed, without asking, without even thinking. And then, with a good deal of panting and cursing, the warrior appeared on the rocky edge, grasping it.

And right at that moment, almost as if he was waiting for it, Smaug came flying to them. Dori jerked Dwalin’s arm with great force, both of them falling on Ori.

And then they ran.

*****

Ori sat huddled to the tunnel wall, shaking all over, hands clapped over his ears like everybody else. So terrible and dreadful was Smaug’s roaring that it shook the mountain itself and the dwarves and hobbit within. This was bad, this was so so bad...

But then the dragon flew away, obviously missing their hidden door and continued with his angry devastation on the western side of the mountain. Slowly, one by one, the dwarves put their hands down, daring to sigh with relief.

Dwalin and Dori sat in front of him, closest to the door, their clothes smouldering just like his own. They very nearly didn’t make it...

'Ori, are you all right?' Dori was looking at him.

His brother. His dear older brother. He came to help him when he needed him, he had just saved Master Dwalin’s life... Ori smiled at him, new tears washing down all the dirt and ash from his cheeks, and hugged him tightly.

Dori hesitated and then patted the top of his head, 'Yes, yes, let’s not get carried away...' But then he hugged him too, the way he always did and chuckled quietly before turning to glare at Dwalin.

'You better be more careful next time,' he growled, got up and marched down the tunnel, probably to look for Nori.

And both of them noticed. The hate that had filled his voice before, was gone...

In the distance Gloin could be heard, complaining about Mr. Baggins’s idea to steal the cup and thus provoking Smaug. Then Thorin’s voice, telling him crossly to be quiet, followed by Fili, repeating his question from before, 'What shall we do now?' A great murmur of the others broke, none of them afraid to speak loudly now that the dragon was outside and each one keen to share his opinion.

Ori looked at Dwalin. He was scratched and bruised from the rocks, singed from the dragon’s fire and covered in ash and soot. But alive. Alive...

And Dwalin pulled him in his arms, burying his head in Ori’s hair and held him like that for the longest time. 'Don’t you dare doing something stupid like that again,' he said quietly, his hot breath on Ori’s ear making the little dwarf clutch to him tighter.

'Thank you,' he whispered then, pulling away just the tiniest bit and cupping Ori’s cheek, 'For loving me. For cherishing my life more than I do.'

...

Ori woke and realized that had lost a track of time. They may have been sitting in the tunnel for few hours or a whole day, there was no telling. They didn’t dare to leave the tunnel in case Smaug was still out there looking for them. They haven’t heard his roar for some time now but that didn’t mean anything.

All through the tunnel deep snoring could be heard as some of them slept uneasily. Dwalin beside him breathing evenly and silently, asleep as well.

Mr. Baggins and Thorin were talking quietly near them, the four of them being at the deepest part of the tunnel.

'Maybe he’s back and sleeping, I can go and see. Maybe he has some weak spots... something that could help us kill him... Or he already blocked the tunnel and I won’t be able to get in...'

'I won’t let you go down there all by yourself. You’ve seen what he’s capable of, he could kill you within a heartbeat.'

'He won’t see me...'

'Bilbo,' Thorin’s voice sounded weary and puzzled, 'why are you doing this?'

Ori couldn’t see anything but he heard a rustle of Thorin’s cloak and two silent steps of the burglar and guessed that they embraced each other.

'I want you to have your kingdom back and be happy,' Mr. Baggins’s shaky voice answered, 'and this is all I can do, so please... let me.'

Thorin sighed deeply, kissed him and some mutual understanding must have past between them because the hobbit then set out down the tunnel silently and Thorin didn’t move.

Ori fell into an uneasy sleep again, tossing around, waking constantly, when suddenly a strange and mighty snarl resounded through the tunnel, shaking all the little stones on the floor. Bofur lit up their small torches and they all stared at each other.

'What was that?!'

'Did Smaug come back?'

'Did he wake up?'

'Mr. Baggins...' Ori whispered, afraid. 

The deep end of their tunnel leading to Smaug turned bright orange with the light of fire. Another roar sounded, wilder and angrier than before and then silence fell, broken only by Thorin’s voice.

'Bilbo!!' he shouted and his cry was even fiercer than the dragon’s as it resonated like an echo through the whole mountain and then the king ran towards the flames.


	14. Tiny Treasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 14, in which Oin is rather busy, Thorin confides in Dwalin and birds talk...

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Tiny Treasures

'Thorin’s still out there,' Bofur whispered and Dwalin nodded, patting his shoulder. Bofur shot one quick glance at the small door and then went deeper down the chamber to get some sleep, leaving the warrior to stand on guard instead.

Dwalin looked at Ori and the hobbit, sleeping huddled next to each other at his feet. Both of them were so wrapped up in their cloaks that only Mr. Baggins’s feet could be seen. The hobbit’s feet must be really tough, thought Dwalin, he was always running around barefooted, no matter the weather or quality of roads... He was a brave little fellow. Both his calfs were covered with clean strips of cloth now, and still he never uttered a word of complaint when Oin was treating him. Unlike at the beginning of their journey, when he whined about handkerchiefs...

His gaze fell on Ori. He couldn’t see it because of the cloak but he knew his arms were also swathed in bandages. And that was his fault...

It was him the little dwarf was holding when he fell, cutting his arms on sharp rocks while doing so...

He didn’t even notice, he was so glad and grateful to be alive, to be able to hold Ori in his arms again... Oin was the one who noticed the blood on the little dwarf shirt, demanding he took it off in an instant. And Dwalin was just standing there, unable to move. He wanted to see. Wanted to see how much damage he had caused so that he could curse himself for it for the rest of his life.

And he knew he gasped then, when Ori unwillingly took his shirt off. Both his upper arms were deeply scratched, but the right one was way worse. It was the one with which Ori had caught him and most of those cuts must have come from when Dwalin’s weight pulled him down towards the edge of the rocks. He held him the whole time while his hands must have hurt so badly...

Oin finished cleaning his wounds and started preparing the bandages. And all that time Ori didn’t cry nor groan but Dwalin knew he was in pain. He was sitting with his tiny back to them and he was shaking. It was breaking the warrior's heart, his poor little Ori...

And he knew Ori was doing it for him, he was trying to be brave and strong for Dwalin’s sake. So that the warrior would think that his injuries weren’t so bad and wouldn’t blame himself.

Dwalin had to clench his fists to stop himself from reaching for him and embracing him, and looked at Ori’s back instead. It looked so fragile and he knew it so well by now, touched and kissed every little part of it...

'Now, this is a special salve, a very old formula,' Oin was saying while applying greenish liquid on Ori’s arms, 'do you still feel any pain?'

Ori moved his left hand a little and turned to smile at Oin, suprised, 'No...'

'Good, good, now hold still, I must dress it, too.'

Dwalin had no idea what kind of salve it was, but it worked equally well on Mr. Baggins’s singed legs later.

When Thorin returned back with him, right after they heard the dragon’s horrible roar and saw the flames in the tunnel, the hobbit was unconscious. It seemed like he made a very good attempt to run away from Smaug’s fire but choked on the smoke and fell, the tips of dragon’s flames scorching his legs. Thorin found him like that and brought him back as quickly as he could.

Oin listened for the hobbit’s breath and, assuring himself that he was indeed only unconscious, turned his attention to his feet.

'It ain’t half that bad, lad,' he told Thorin, who refused to let go of his burglar and who now had his head in his lap, 'he’ll be running again in a day or two.'

...

Dwalin went out of the main chamber and looked around. The moon was shining brightly, illuminating Erebor in front of them and the desolation around it; and yet their watchtower remained in the shadows...

He could still see Thorin though, sitting on the rock not far from him and went to join him. The night was quiet, not even the wind was blowing and there had been no sign of the dragon for the whole day. It was an eerie silence out of which nothing good could come.

'We’re not really taking good care of them, are we?' Thorin said as Dwalin sat down next to him and lit up his pipe. 'Ori and Bilbo,' he added when the warrior looked at him questionigly.

He lit up his pipe as well. 'I’m sorry, that was not fair. You are, you’re always protecting Ori and you never intentionally hurt him. Whereas me... Bilbo only gets hurt because of me.'

When Dwalin didn’t say anything, the king continued, 'I was treating him bad from the beginning, I judged him unfairly, I did him wrong in every way I possibly could... I yelled at him at that damn cliff when he was all scared and then left him to fight his own way out of the goblin’s kingdom. I said he had left us and that it was to be expected of him, while he was standing there the whole time and then went and saved my life when Azog wanted to kill me... I didn’t listen to him when he asked me to stay away from those lights in Mirkwood and then he was left all alone there, forced to fight the spiders and then search the elvish dungeons all by himself, looking for us... And then he asked me to let him go down that cursed tunnel and I did. I did even though I knew something bad could happen...  Why is he staying by my side despite all this? Why hasn’t he left me yet, Dwalin?'

The warrior’s eyes met his, 'Don’t ask me why, Thorin. You know very well... He didn’t leave you because he loves you. That’s what people do when they love someone, they don’t leave him. That’s why the hobbit stays with you, that’s why Ori was willing to fall in that chasm with me. That’s why you and me would do the same for them...'

'The way he looked at me, at the hall with treasure, I thought...' the king said after a moment, turning his gaze toward the Main gate of Erebor. And Dwalin remembered as well.

They all sneaked down the tunnel by the early morning. There was no sign of the dragon for two days now and they were all starved enough to risk approaching the end of the tunnel. And before anyone could have a proper look whether or not the dragon was really there, Mr. Baggins took one of the torches and entered the hall.

And Smaug was not there, only mountains of gold and gems, all shining as the light from the burglar’s torch fell on them. And one by one the dwarves followed him cautiously, their fear disappearing the moment they touched first of those marvellous and beautiful things the hall was full of... Dwalin could see the hobbit climbing one of the golden mountains and he went out of the tunnel as well.

Soon they all scattered in all directions, each of them admiring different things even though that wasn't very wise. Although he supposed they could hear the dragon if he was coming back...

He had never seen so much gold and precious things at one place and regretted that they could not bring more light inside to see it all properly. But judging by the behaviour of others, he was the only one with thoughts like that. Gloin was running around between the golden piles, exclaiming words of joy everytime he found a gem particularly huge. Fili and Kili had found some magnificent crowns and put them on their heads while giggling cheerfully. Nori plunged himself into a pile of jewels, for what reason Dwalin did not know, and Dori beside him was giving a lecture to Ori on the quality of sapphires of which he held an armful. And between them Thorin was wandering, his brow furrowed and the warrior knew he was looking for the Arkenstone...

'Look at this, brother,' Balin was calling on him, standing in front of hexagonal door. Dwalin shot a look at Ori, who was safe enough at that moment and followed Balin in a large chamber full of armour and weapons of breathtaking beauty, all adorned with silver and mithril.

'This was our family’s armoury and vault,' Balin explained, moving his hand slowly so that his torch illuminated one armour after the other, 'I guess father never brought you here, you were too small back then... It seems like Smaug couldn’t fit in here and plunder it too.'

The light of Balin’s torch fell on something shiny on the floor, further from the door and Dwalin went there and picked it up. A brooch shaped like a flower. Its stem and leaves made of the tiniest emeralds, petals of white flawless opals. It was covered with dust and yet still so very beautiful...

'Alfirin,' Balin beside him said, looking at the brooch, 'that’s where our emblem came from... Our great-grandfather used to make jewels in the likeness of Alfirin for our great-grandmother. She and her kin used to live in lands full of flowers where no mountains were. When she came here with him, she was sad because there were no blossoms that she loved so much, so he made her a necklase with Alfirin from the diamonds. And to make her happy again, he used to engrave the flowers everywhere and it became our emblem. It changed a little over the years, naturally, but you can still see it there...'

'They grow around Beorn’s house,' Dwalin muttered silently.

'Yes!' Balin smiled at him, 'I’ve seen them there as well. I thought they were lost, for many years they didn’t bloom anywhere...'

Dwalin kept looking at the little brooch. Ori found the Alfirin. He found them and drew them into his journal with the word _home_ , after that night they were together for the first time...

He looked around. He never really thought about where he would stay. But over the last weeks, listening to Thorin, he could see himself staying with Ori at Erebor, fixing it, repairing it, putting it back to its original glory. Was he like his great-grandfather? Wanting to keep someone who loved the real flowers inside dark caverns? Knowing that the person would stay there with him because he loved him and him making artificial blossoms to cheer him up? Even though realizing that such blossoms could never compare? Would never do?

'I don’t think we’ll stay here, Balin...' he said, looking at his older brother.

'I know,' Balin answered, smiling, 'he is very much like our great-grandmother’s kin, your Ori.'

A deep and impatient sigh came from outside the door and they both turned. Thorin was standing there, staring at the heap of gold in front of him angrily like it was its fault that he couldn’t find what he was looking for, cursing under his breath.

'What are you looking for, Thorin?' Gloin asked as he was passing, 'You need some help?'

'No!' the king barked, 'Leave me alone!'

There was something strange in his voice and from Dwalin’s memory a vision came back. Of an old dwarf on a throne, clutching a shiny stone in his hands and yelling that he will not show the Arkenstone to anyone, not even his friend’s grandson. And now Thorin had the same expression, the same voice, Thror had, all those years ago.

And the burglar was there as well. Standing across the heap from Thorin, looking at the king with a wild mixture of emotions and Dwalin couldn’t read any of them except for fear and determination. The hobbit was daring the king to shout at him as well; and at the same time was afraid of what he might hear.

They were looking at each other for a long time and then Thorin breathed in slowly and said in his own voice again, 'We should get out of here while we still can. Grab the armour and weapons and let’s go.'

They did as the king said and then followed him through Erebor, across the wasteland and up the watchtower.

...

And there they were still, at relative safety. The sun would soon come up and Dwalin and Thorin were still sitting next to each other, smoking, both lost in their thoughts.

They have reached the watchtower at sunset. Most of them laid themselves on the ground, hungry and worn out and fell asleep. Thorin took the first watch while Oin tended to Mr. Baggins’s feet, all sore from the long walk, at the last light of the sun. Other than that only Dwalin and Ori were still awake, laying next to each other, the hobbit’s cloak on Ori’s other side.  

Dwalin ran his fingers lightly over Ori’s cheek.

'Does it hurt? And don’t lie...' he whispered, his gaze falling to the little dwarf’s arm.

Ori smiled at him, 'Only a little.'

The warrior was looking into his eyes and then nodded. He pulled his heavy cloak over Ori as well, getting closer to him and kissed him softly.

'I have something for you,' he said quietly and put the Alfirin brooch he had found in Erebor into Ori’s palm.

Ori caught his breath, 'It’s beautiful!'

'It will remind you of the mountains, if you ever miss them while you’re in our garden...'

The little dwarf looked at him, his eyes wide, 'You don’t want to stay here?'

'No,' Dwalin answered, taking delight in the joy that was visible on Ori’s face. Ori looked at the brooch again and ran his trembling fingers across it, before hugging it to his chest.

'I don’t want to stay here either,' he whispered and Dwalin chuckled, pulling him into another and more passionate kiss.

The hobbit padded to them quietly, sitting on his cloak and Ori turned to him, his happy face all red, 'Mr. Baggins!'

'Yes?' the burglar looked at him, astonished.

But then the little dwarf’s expression changed suddenly, almost as if he realized something and he stuttered, 'G-goodnight.'

'Oh, well,' the hobbit smiled at him. 'Goodnight.' And they both laid down, Ori pressing his head against Dwalin’s chest. And the warrior ran his fingers through his hair, soothing him because he understood. Ori wanted to tell Mr. Baggins that he and Dwalin were to go and find a home somewhere far away but stopped when he realized that that would make the hobbit sad. More sad than he already was. Dwalin knew the hobbit was worried about Thorin and the way gold and power affected him...

'He probably thinks I love the gold and Erebor more than him... ' Thorin’s voice brought him back from his memories to reality. Almost as if the king was reading his mind.

Dwalin looked at his friend searchingly, 'Well, do you?'

Thorin turned to him, resentful but before he could say anything, the first rays of sun appeared and all around them the birds started to sing, breaking the grim silence. Both dwarves stood up, they haven’t heard a bird sing ever since they first came to the desolation. There was a sound of shuffling from inside the chamber as the others woke up as well with the unexpected noise.

Mr. Baggins’s head appeared in the doorway, his hair all ruffled and he yawned wildly, blinking at the sun.

'Are those birds I hear?'

A smile flickered across Thorin’s face, 'Yes.'

And right at that moment a big raven came flying from somewhere, sitting itself on the rock in front of Thorin.

'Be at peace, Thorin son of Thrain, I am not thy enemy,' it spoke as the king reached for his sword, 'I bring you news. Smaug is dead and the elves and men of the Lake Town are marching this way now, to claim your treasure.'  


	15. Please Don't Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15, in which walls are built and walls are broken, Bilbo has a plan and Ori gets something he did not expect...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in denial, ergo this does not end like the book. You've been warned so I don't want to hear any complains, all right? ;)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Please Don't Go

Ori was huddled on top of the wall they had built at the Main gate to keep anyone from entering the mountain. It didn’t stop the icy wind however and the little dwarf wrapped his cloak tighter around himself. His eyes were following the tiny fires of the elves and men of the Lake Town in the distance, all flickering in the wild wind...

They must be freezing there more than I do, he thought. He felt bad for them. But for his companions, too... They were all in a sad and unfortunate situation...

He understood Bard and his people. The dragon had destroyed their town and all because of them, because they stirred his anger. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that they truly had a right on some part of their treasure...

But at the same time, he understood Thorin’s anger too because they came with the elves. Those same elves who imprisoned them, who had never helped them in the past... And they all came armed, as if ready for a battle...

All the same, he would much rather give the lake men their share of gold and then watch them leave in peace. Nothing good could come out of this stubborness...

'I’ll take over now, laddie,' Bombur appeared on the ladder leading to their tiny watch post above the wall. 'You go and get some sleep.'

Ori nodded and climbed down, casting one last look at the tiny and distant fires.

...

'We should sing or play, this gloom’s getting to me...' Gloin muttered, staring into their own fire. They were all sitting around it, their spirits low. Thorin asked Dwalin and Balin for their counsil right after Bard and the elves had left earlier and they were still in the hall with treasure...

'I can only think of sad songs now,' Fili answered.

'So do I...' nodded Kili.

'Well, I can play,' Bofur offered, taking his flute out of his coat and soon its sound filled the whole hall, driving their worries away. And before the first song ended, they all cheered up a little and started chattering again (about sharing their king’s dislike for the elves and their reluctance to give the Elvenking so much as a small golden coin).

But Ori was only half-listening to them. Out of his pocket he took a mitt. The very same one he used to hide his sprained wrist in Hobbiton all those months ago, the same one Master Dwalin had then so gently pulled down, touching him like that for the very first time... It was a lonely mitten now, its sister lay somewhere in the lake, or perhaps on the shore, but he couldn’t part with it. Back then, at the Shire, something wonderful began...

And now... it may all end in the halls of Erebor...

He shook the mitt and from inside it a brooch fell into his hand. Master Dwalin said the flower was called Alfirin. It was such a pretty and gentle name, like the flower itself... With a tip of his mitt he started to clean the dust and dirt of it. He didn’t have time to do it earlier; once the raven told them about the intentions of elves and men of the Lake Town, Thorin gave command for all of them to return to Erebor quickly and block the Main gate...

Mr. Baggins was sitting next to him, eyes following Ori’s hands, bowl with dinner in front of him, untouched.

'Do you think we will die here, Ori?' he asked quietly all of a sudden.

Ori turned to him, startled. Of course they won’t! They had Dwalin and Thorin, no one could dare to go against them. And Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori... all of them were very good at fight!

But the elves... there were too many of them... Even if Dain came with reinforcements they may not let him pass to the mountain and all their supplies would run out soon... If only...

'Perhaps if you talked to Thorin... told him to give the lake men their gold...' he whispered, his eyes fixed on the hobbit but the burglar shook his head.

'I‘ve tried, he won’t listen to me... It’s the gold... that’s why he is like this...'

The sound of Bofur’s flute was drowning out their silent voices and Ori dropped his eyes to the brooch again. His hands were shaking. If Thorin doesn’t change his mind...

'We will starve here...'

The hobbit  shook his head again, his expression full of sorrow. 'No, I think... I think Thorin will want to fight before it comes to that...'

'But there’s too few of us, surely he wouldn’t...'

Mr. Baggins pressed the cloak he had been using as a pillow to his chest, 'There... is something I could do. To stop this. But I don’t want to...'

Ori looked up at him, surprised.

'If I do it, I may save many lives but...' the hobbit’s eyes glistened, 'destroy some in the process...'

'What is it?' Ori asked, 'Maybe I can help...'

They heard footsteps approaching their hall and Dwalin entered, frowning, his eyes meeting Ori’s at once. He sat down next to him, taking his own bowl and without withdrawing his gaze from it, said quietly, 'Tomorrow, I’ll start teaching you how to fight with an axe...'

Mr. Baggins behind him took a shaky breath and clutched his bundled cloak even tighter.

*****

'Where did you get it, you thieves?!' Thorin’s voice thundered across the desolation.

Balin next to him whispered, incredulous, 'The Arkenstone.' And like an avalanche the name of the gem spread from dwarf to dwarf till it reached Ori and Mr. Baggins down at the hall.

Ori made an involuntary step closer to the gate. The Arkenstone... How could Bard and the Elvenking possibly get their hands on it? It couldn’t be the real one... But Dwalin and Balin were standing next to the king, both of them had seen it before just like Thorin, they all would have recognized it...

'I gave it to them...' the hobbit’s frightened voice sounded and had there not been such a stunned silence, nobody would have heard him. As it was, they all turned like one man to look at him.

Ori staggered one step away from their burglar. He couldn’t... How? When?

Why...?

 The only one who seemed to collect himself enough to move was Thorin. He lowered himself from the watch post and with incredible speed rushed to Mr. Baggins, grasping his upper arms so roughly that the hobbit winced with pain. Thorin‘s force pushed him back against the dark wall.

Dwalin came swiftly down behind him, thrusting his axe to Ori. He looked ready to move within a second should the need arise. Whether to protect or attack Ori didn’t know.

Tears shone in the hobbit’s eyes and only then did Thorin’s anger seem to ease a little.

'Did you give them the Arkenstone?' the king’s effort to control himself was obvious from his voice.

Mr. Baggins nodded.

'Of your own free will?'

The hobbit nodded again, tears running slowly down his cheeks.

'Why?!' Thorin spat through gritted teeth, 'Why would you betray me like that?' He squeezed the burglar’s arms again, shaking him while doing so.

Ori couldn’t bear it, he ran to help the poor hobbit even though it would certainly mean the king’s wrath turning to him. But Dwalin‘s strong arm caught him around the waist and held him in place and when Ori looked at him, he just shook his head wordlessly. They were not to interfere in this...

'You said one fourteenth of the treasure is mine,' the hobbit choked, 'you can give it to Bard for the Arkenstone and they will leave peacefully. There won’t have to be any battle, they will leave as your friends, you will be able to live in harmony as neighbours, no ill will among you...Don’t you see? It was the only way for us to survive!'

The king released his arms and took one step back, looking at the burglar with a mixture of incomprehension and disdain. Such cruel was the look in his eyes that Ori couldn’t look at him.

'So you went and gave them what I hold dear more than anything here?'

A strangled yelp escaped from the hobbit’s lips.

'What you hold dear more than anything here...' he repeated and his voice trembled. And Thorin kept glaring at him, not realizing what he had just said.

'Very well, you shall get your wish. Balin!' the king roared without taking his eyes of the hobbit, 'Tell Bard they will get their gold by tomorrow‘s morning. Tell him they can take the burglar too. He is very true to that word after all...'

There were astonished gasps from the other dwarves because by now they understood why Mr. Baggins gave the Arkenstone to their enemies.

'Thorin...' the hobbit uttered. 'Don’t do that... don’t send me away...'

The king was looking straight at him, his eyes cold, 'And what did you think I would do?'

Mr. Baggins stepped to him and clutched his cloak, 'I did it for you! You must see, you must understand that! I couldn’t bear seeing you hurt! Please, Thorin, don’t send me away... I’m begging you...' The last words came out as a whisper, and the hobbit's giant tears fell on the king’s shirt.

'You brought this on yourself. Didn’t I ask you... never to betray...' Thorin hesitated but then pushed the hobbit away roughly and turned to go to the treasure hall.

Mr. Baggins’s hands clenched into fists, anger suddenly filling him and he yelled, his voice hoarse from all the tears and sorrow but still strong enough for the king to hear, 'Fine! If you love your cursed treasure so much, go and be with it! See if it ever loves you back like I do! I asked you not to leave me! I asked you to not come to this mountain! I asked you not to let the wealth blind you and let the bloodshed happen! How many times did you listen to me? How many times did you do what I asked? Were it not for you I wouldn’t even be here, you could die peacefully among your gold and gems and I wouldn’t care! I don’t care! How could I ever-'

His voice broke. He wiped his tears with a sleeve, took a breath and then ran away down the hall into one of Erebor’s chambers. And Dwalin’s grip on Ori loosened and the little dwarf ran after him, neither of them seeing Thorin as he stopped and turned around.

*****

Ori was standing beside Dwalin watching, just like the other dwarves, as the elves and men of the Lake Town carried heavy chests full of gold from Mr. Baggins’s share one by one down towards Dale. The hobbit was standing few steps in front of him, looking at everything with sad empty eyes.

Ori caught up with him last night in what appeared to be an audience chamber. There the hobbit stopped and the moment Ori hugged him broke down in tears. And there they were sitting on the floor for a long time, the hobbit weeping quietly and Ori stroking his hair.

Then the hobbit looked at Ori, smiling weakly, 'It was just a dream... I always knew I’d have to wake up...' 

...

Mr. Baggins agreed to come back with him only because the chamber was far away from the fire and they were cold.

When they reached the Main gate, Ori wished they had stayed there longer however because the others had already started to take apart the upper part of their makeshift wall and the moment Ori and the hobbit came closer, they could hear Dori’s voice, 'You know, at a time like this I’m rather grateful our Ori fell for Dwalin and not for Thorin. That would have been a whole more trouble to deal with...' An approving sound from Nori came from somewhere. Neither Thorin nor Dwalin were there... 

Ori shot a look at Mr. Baggins but the hobbit didn’t seem to hear them. He lay down by the fire and closed his eyes.

In the morning the hobbit said his goodbye to all the dwarves as they carried the chests out. They were all sad that things turned out that way but neither of them had any words how to express their feelings, so they just hugged him and wished him a safe journey home. And all that time the burglar had never, not even once, looked at Thorin.

There were only five chests left when Mr. Baggins turned to Ori and hugged him.

'My very dear friend,' he said, smiling a little, 'you must come and visit me when you’re on your search for home.' He shot a look at Dwalin and the warrior took a breath as if he wanted to say something but in the end didn’t. The warrior came back from the treasure hall in the morning, dark circles under his eyes and he and Ori had no time to talk, so the little dwarf didn't know what Dwalin wanted to say to the hobbit...

'We will,' Ori whispered, blinking to get the tears away from his eyes. He hugged the hobbit one more time. 'I’m so sorry -'

Mr. Baggins’s hand shot to Ori’s lips, 'There is nothing for you to be sorry about, Ori. Nothing of this was your fault, so don’t be sad. You two take good care of each other.' He smiled at them sadly one last time and then went to where Bard and the Elvenking stood with Thorin, watching as the last chest was hoisted up and carried away.

Then Bard held out a smaller box in which the Arkenstone shone to Thorin but the king didn’t touch it.

'You can keep that, too,' he said to Bard, who looked back at him in wonderment, as if not sure if he understood correctly. Even the always passive and beautiful face of the Elvenking showed signs of bewilderment and interest.

'I’d much rather have my burglar back.'

Mr. Baggins looked at the king for the first time, not at all sure what to make of it.

Thorin kept looking at him, his face sad and tired.

'I’m so sorry,' he said then, quietly. And Ori realized he sounded different now, like he used to before they came here... As if some strong enchantement was lifted from him now that he was not in the mountain anymore, now that he was able to give away some of the treasure, breaking the spell the gold had put on him. 'Please forgive me. For everything I’ve done to you... I know I didn’t listen to you, I’ve brought you here and broke all my promises to you... Except for one. I could never leave you... so I am begging _you_ now, don’t leave _me_. I’ll leave the mountain with you, I’ll go wherever you want, do anything you want me to do, just...'

He took a deep breath, taking one step towards the hobbit.

And Mr. Baggins was watching him, his expression unreadable, for a very long time. And then he turned around and went to Ori.

'I have a favour to ask,' he said and Ori shot a nervous glance at Thorin.

'All right,' he nodded.

Mr. Baggins reached inside one of his pockets and took out a small brass key.

And then he smiled at Ori, passing the key to him, his smile wide and happy now, 'I think I will stay here, so... will you take care of Bag End for me?' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, there will be an epilogue :)


	16. Epilogue: Sometimes Dreams Do Come True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue, in which Beorn gives Ori a parting present, Gandalf has a chat with Lobelia and nearly nothing improper happens... ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A warning for all you lads and lasses: If you cherish your peace of mind, please don't read this... I mean, seriously... :)

# Don't Ask Me Why

### Epilogue: Sometimes Dreams Do Come True

'Here you go, little dwarf,' Beorn said as he stood up and gave Ori small package wrapped up in a cloth.

Ori clutched it carefully, 'Thank you ever so much!'

Beorn waved his big hand, 'Pray don’t mention it. I’m glad there is still folk interested in planting rather than tearing and destroying... Mind you, these like sunny damp places. Do you have such a place where you live?'

'Yes,' Ori nodded eagerly, 'there is the whole north side of Mr. Ba-... I mean, our hole, that is always wet even when the sun is shining on it the whole day!'

'Hole, huh?' Beorn grunted, 'Funny way to call a cavern... Well, I hope they will grow well and bring you joy!' He laughed, patted Ori on the shoulder and set off to his house where Dwalin and Gandalf were sitting, smoking pipes.

Ori looked at the package. He hoped with his whole heart that the Alfirin will survive their journey to Hobbiton, they still had a good way ahead of them... He pressed them gently to his chest. If he plants them soon, they will bloom by the beginning of summer and once they spread they will be seen from the whole Hobbiton.

He didn‘t remember the Shire or Bag End so well from his first visit to know where which flowers flourished, of course (they did come when the dusk fell  and left before the sun came up, after all) but he had his journal in which he had carefully written everything Mr. Baggins told him about them during their journey. Not to mention he had spent every free minute of the last months asking the burglar all about his home and the hobbits and their customs...

'Say, Mr. Baggins,' he asked once, as they were sitting at the treasure hall, recording its contents, 'the hobbits in Hobbiton, won‘t they mind... I mean, perhaps they will not like it if we move there...'

'Oh, I wouldn’t worry, Ori,' the hobbit said, putting his pen aside and flexing his fingers, 'I don’t think either of them had ever seen a dwarf before but they will soon come to know and like you, I’m sure.'

'N-no, I meant... won’t they mind that Master Dwalin and I... ' Ori felt his cheeks turning red and the hobbit looked at him, puzzled, 'well, we are both men...'

No matter how long he and Master Dwalin were together he still had trouble talking about them aloud... even if it was with Mr. Baggins. He clutched his pen nervously, not daring to look at the hobbit.

Mr. Baggins chuckled suddenly, 'My dear Ori... I know it‘s a little different for dwarves but us hobbits... well for us, there is nothing wrong or strange about two men being together...'

Ori smiled at him then, his whole day suddenly much better...

...

Ori looked at the stream where the Alfirin grew once more, none of them were in bloom now as the spring was only beginning, and then he turned to go to Beorn’s house as well.

As he approached the veranda he caught Gandalf’s eye, the wizard smiling at him slyly as he shifted on the bench to make room for Beorn.

'So you say the halfling stayed with king Thorin?' their host asked as he grabbed a loaf of bread and sliced a piece.

'Oh, yes,' Gandalf nodded contentedly and Ori remembered the first night the wizard joined them at Erebor, two days after Thorin made peace with Bard and the elves. They were all rejoiced to see him again after such a long time and eager to answer all his questions about what happened to them after they parted in front of Mirkwood borders. When Mr. Baggins got to the point where they realized that within all that confusion with spiders they had lost Thorin, Dori took over, informing Gandalf that that was when he and Nori learned that a certain warrior took liking to their little brother. Did Gandalf know?

'Why, certainly no. Who would have ever thought that?' Gandalf said in his utmost serious voice and turned to look at Ori where he was sitting next to Dwalin. The wizard’s eyes twinkled as he winked at him. 

'Yes, precisely. It came as such a shock...' Dori agreed.

'I understand, it must have been a surprise when one didn‘t have the slightest suspicion before,' Gandalf turned to Dori again. 'It would have been different if either of them showed any kind of... ehm, affection for the other. Let’s say perhaps... one defending the other, or one treating the others injuries, or one bringing something to the other that he likes... or one showing signs of loving what the other makes, or just plain staring at each another...'

'Yes, yes, exactly my words, Gandalf!' Dori nodded enthusiastically, 'If they did any of those things one wouldn’t be so suprised and then get... a little upset.'

Ori could see Gandalf giving Dori a lenient smile before saying, 'And what happened next? When you got away from the spiders?'

And Dori took up with the story again, telling Gandalf about the elves and their terrible, inhospitable prison.

...

'I’m afraid not, Gandalf,' Beorn was saying now, 'all the rooms are taken. There is a lot of folk travelling over the mountains these days. Now that the dragon is dead and the King under the Mountain is on his throne again... and the elves had cleared some of their roads, too... why, you must know that, you came one of them yourselves. The old trade routes are being restored and some come this way... I don’t like it much but there is not a lot of them and usually they are nice and respectable people so I let them stay for the night. But as I said, today quite a company gathered here... you’ll have to lie down in the main hall...'

'Oh, that’s no trouble for us at all, my dear friend,' Gandalf said and then sat back and smoked his pipe peacefully.

Ori glanced at Dwalin and the warrior looked back at him. This was a special house for them... They were together here for the first time and Ori got red just from thinking about it but... he had rather hoped that...

They had spent the whole winter in Erebor, helping to put it back in order again. Every day more and more dwarves would arrive and help as well and slowly the mountain filled with light and warmth and life.

And every night, Ori would go with Dwalin to the chambers that belonged to the warrior’s forefathers and Dwalin would lay him on the bed, undress him and be with him the way they were here, at Beorn’s house... And it was always like the first time, even though it crossed Ori’s mind once that perhaps one day he may get used to it and it won’t feel like that anymore... but it always did... Dwalin’s hands never ceased to send shivers through his body, his lips never failed to draw moans and sighs from him...

And he was curious. About the other ways of love making Master Dwalin had mentioned once and which he had never brought up again ever since... and Ori was too ashamed to ask him about them. The only times he got up his courage were in the middle of the night when he was shivering in Dwalin’s arms, the warrior's lips wandering over his body. At these times he seemed to lose himself, lose his shyness... but at these moments he was also unable to speak coherently.

Then one evening, during which they decided they will leave for the Shire at the beginning of spring, Dwalin looked at him over the table, his eyes dark.

Thorin was entertaining a big company that came from the Blue Mountains and among which were a lot of their relatives. Ori was sitting next to Dori’s wife on that occasion, for the first time leaving Dwalin’s side.

'And when will you leave, my dear Ori? Dwalin, I hope you aren’t going to take him away any time soon? We only just arrived...' she asked. Ori knew she was very fond of him, she was the one who wanted him to stay at home instead of going on this quest.

'No, we were thinking about the beginning of spring, by then most of the work should be done,' Dwalin replied.

'Oh! That’s still a month away, that’s good!'

'And a good thinking too,' Nori joined in, 'it’s no good going now, the days are too short. But by the spring you’ll be able to travel faster and reach your new home in no time.'

'A new home,' Dori’s wife repeated dreamily, 'I wonder what it’s like in the Shire...'

Ori would very gladly describe everything for her because by now he knew it as if he had lived there his whole life but he saw Dwalin looking at him and noticed his dark eyes. He knew the warrior’s eyes changed like that with passion, he had seen them every night, looking at him as if the whole treasure of Erebor couldn’t compare to Ori. And now, for some reason, perhaps because of something somebody said, Dwalin looked at him like that again and Ori knew he wanted him...

He dropped his gaze to the table, blushing. If it were up to him he would go to their chamber straight away, he would kiss Master Dwalin even before the door closed behind them, let him take his clothes off, not caring if he tore them while doing so, pressing himself to his hot naked skin...

Ori looked around. This was so embarrassing... if anyone looked at him, surely they would guess what he was thinking about... such thoughts... He took a sip of his ale and glanced at Dwalin again. The warrior was still looking at him and after studying Ori’s face for a moment stood up and left the hall.

Ori choked on his ale. Was he... was he supposed to follow? In the middle of the feast? What would the others think...

'No, I will certainly not give away any of my sapphires,' Dori on his left was saying to their cousin.

On his other side Dori's wife was focused on Nori’s description of Mr. Baggins’s kitchen, 'Oh, really? Well that seems to me like an awfully small pantry...' Ori stood up, his hands shaking, but nobody paid him any attention whatsoever. So he left the hall quickly as well...

His heart pounding he made his way through Erebor to their chamber. Perhaps Master Dwalin went somewhere else after all and he only misunderstood... He opened the door and entered, half expecting to find no one inside, but then the door closed behind him and Dwalin's arms wrapped around him. They kissed passionately and the warrior picked him up and carried him to bed.

I’ll ask him this time, I will, Ori kept thinking the whole time but the moment Dwalin laid him down, he was lost. He could only feel all those wonderful things that them being together like this always brought, warm and heavy mist engulfing him. He was panting, his thirst for Dwalin growing stronger with each breath he took.

He ran his fingers over the warrior’s strong back when suddenly that little part of his mind that was still able to think clearly reminded him of what it was he had done back at the Lake Town that prompted Dwalin to tell him that there were other ways to-

He moaned as Dwalin’s lips moved to his neck, placing one kiss after another there...

He could perhaps try and do it again... He put all the courage he could gather into his hands, sliding them slowly to the warrior’s hips, brushing thumbs over them where they were precisely above his own and then moved both hands gently to Dwalin’s backside just as the warrior kissed his lips again. He had never touched Master Dwalin consciously like this, he could feel the strong muscles there moving beneath his fingers.

'Ori,' Dwalin gasped against his lips, kissing him fiercely and thrusting their hips together.

And Ori cried out. He couldn’t stop himself. His own name resonated through his body carried by Dwalin’s deep voice. It was as if the name itself took some physical form and then spread through his body, vibrating his every cell with the most delicious feelings. And then Dwalin kissed him, pressed their bodies together with such force that it almost hurt... And Ori allowed that, he would allow anything...

But then suddenly Dwalin pulled away a little, panting more frantically than Ori.

And Ori took his hands off him quickly, drawing them to his own chest instead, looking at the warrior fearfully, a terrible thought crossing his mind.

'You don’t want to... with me...' he whispered.

But Dwalin didn’t respond. He kept looking at Ori’s small hands beneath him, waiting for his own breath to steady...

'Of course I do,' he answered then.

'But then why...'

'Ori,' the warrior looked at him and cupped his cheek, 'you don’t realize what could happen. I get too carried away when you touch me. It is already hard enough for me not to lose self-control but at  least this way I cannot harm you. If we do _that_... I could hurt you. '

'You wouldn’t hurt me...' Ori objected with conviction.

Dwalin smiled at him a little.

'You could try...' Ori looked at his hands, they were trembling terribly.

The warrior shook his head, sitting up. 'You are too small compared to me, Ori. Perhaps when you’re older and stronger...'

Ori frowned. He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand at all. He sat up as well, and realized that it was cold in the chamber. No fire was burning there yet as it was too early in the evening and he shivered. Dwalin wrapped his arms around him again and pulled him closer, sitting the younger dwarf on his lap the way he used to do in the elvish prison.

Ori laid his head on his shoulder. He was so warm, his Master Dwalin. Tiny drops of sweat glistened on his skin in the light of the torches and Ori pressed his lips to them. Dwalin kissed him gently then and Ori looked at him searchingly.

'If you can’t show me,' he said, surprised by his own courage, 'then at least tell me how it is done. I... I might not get any bigger but I can become stronger... and one day you won’t have to be worried about hurting me and then you can show me but till then... I’d like to at least know...'

Perhaps it was because they were sitting in their own chamber, the light dim and both of them naked but it was suddenly easier to talk to Master Dwalin about these things.

Dwalin looked at him before kissing him lightly, 'All right.' He took a deep breath and explained to Ori what he wanted to know, all that time sitting with his back to him and by the time he finished Ori was very grateful fot that indeed. He didn’t think he had ever blushed so much in his entire life...

*****

'Will you be all right here? I shall be back by the evening,' Dwalin looked at him, concerned.

But Ori only smiled and nodded. What could possibly happen to him in Hobbiton? He said his farewell to Gandalf (who agreed to accompany Dwalin to Tuckborough, where the warrior wanted to sell their ponies, before continuing further south) and wished them safe journey.

Gandalf had been much helpful when they arrived yesterday. Most of the hobbits greeted them in a friendly way and then stopped paying them any attenion and hurried off to their own homes for one of their many meals. But there was one of Mr. Baggins’s relatives who was very persistent in asking questions even though it meant the loss of second dinner... Gandalf took care of her.

'Why, Master Dwalin and Master Ori are very respectable and rich dwarven lords. Yes, they did purchase the Bag End from Mr. Baggins. Yes, a lot of gold played part in the bargain. Bilbo? He stays with Thorin, King under the Mountain. No, not like a servant. Yes, precisely like that. Uhuh, who would have ever guessed that. Yes, king Thorin is immensely rich. Yes, Bilbo is rich now as well. Would he like to see his relatives? Possibly, but the roads are still very dangerous. Yes, I am sure your husband will be delighted to hear that. And good day to you, my dear madam.'  

Ori chuckled when he remembered the lady’s excited face. He suspected her to be a little gossipy... It wasn’t true that they paid much gold to Mr. Baggins. The hobbit wouldn’t hear of it. He said that it was enough for him to know that there are good people living in Bag End and thus he can stay in Erebor with one less thing to worry about.

Ori thought about him now, as he planted the Alfirin. Before they left he told Ori that Thorin promised to make a little garden for him up by the hidden door. The platform there wasn’t all destroyed by the dragon and he could have his little piece of Shire there. He wondered what kinds of flowers Mr. Baggins will plant...

When he finally finished his work in the garden the sun had already started to set. It was a very pretty garden and soon all the flowers will be at bloom... He washed his hands in the barrel that still stood at the very same place as he remembered.  

It seemed so long ago... Master Dwalin was sitting on the bench right over there... and even though Ori cared for him deeply then already, the warrior always scared him a little... he was so big and strong, and experienced, he had seen so many things Ori hadn’t...

He would have never thought back then that one day they will come back and he would know what Master Dwalin’s lips tasted like, what his skin felt like, how deep his voice sounded when the warrior was aroused, how only his hot breath was enough to arouse Ori...

...

Ori had just filled the kettle with water when he thought he heard footsteps on the pathway. Heavy ones, not the light barefooted steps of hobbits. He rushed to the door and opened it.

And Dwalin was there, his eyes falling on Ori immediately and he smiled. He climbed the steps quickly, looking at the way the garden had changed during the day and than stood in front of Ori. Cupping his cheeks and kissing him gently.

Ori blinked then. It seemed to him that for a moment he was in his dream. But this was real... Master Dwalin came from his travels, came home to him, kissed him on the threshold...

'Do you want to hear about Tuckborough?' Dwalin asked as he entered the Bag End and Ori closed the door behind him.

'Yes!' Ori nodded, taking the warrior’s coat from him and hanging it neatly next to his own. He led the way to the kitchen and filled two bowls with stew and while they ate Dwalin was telling him about how the hobbits in Tuckborough seemed like a pretty decent folk, that he sold their ponies for a very good price to some hobbit who had four children, that Tuckborough is a nice village and they have an inn called 'Lucky Duck' and that a very nice legend goes with that name; that he missed him so much because they hadn’t been separated for so long since their quest for Erebor began...

'Ori, what’s wrong?' the warrior stood up from his chair abruptly and walked to Ori. And the little dwarf had no idea what he was talking about because he had just been sitting there, listening... But then Dwalin brushed his hand over his cheeks and it was all wet... He had been crying and didn’t even know it...

'You’re unhappy...' the warrior uttered, kneeling in front of Ori.

And Ori shook his head and smiled at Dwalin as new and new tears filled his eyes. These were the tears of happiness. Master Dwalin couldn’t know but... Ori‘s dream was coming true...

He laughed and confused the warrior even more.

'My Dwalin,' he whispered and put his arms around Dwalin’s neck, sliding from his chair and kneeling on the floor as well as he pressed his lips to his. The older dwarf hesitated for a moment and then slipped his arms around Ori and kissed him back.

Then he stood up, took Ori in his arms and carried him to the bedroom.

There was only one candle flickering on the bedside table as Dwalin put Ori down. They were standing there for a moment, looking at each other and then Ori whispered, 'You promised to make love to me every night when we have home of our own...' He took a step closer to the warrior, Dwalin’s eyes watching him intently the whole time, 'I know you won’t hurt me... and even if you do, the blame will go on me because I am the one who wants to do it...'

'Ori...' Dwalin hasn’t moved from his place.

'Please,' Ori took one more step, 'you promised...'

Mr. Baggins’s words came to his mind, those words the hobbit told him after he had finally gathered enough courage to ask him whether he had any experience in this. _It is like a tempest, Ori, a vicious storm that burns your blood but if you endure it, if you don’t let it stop you, a new and sunny day will always follow..._

He could endure it, he could endure anything if it meant getting even closer to Master Dwalin. Mr. Baggins was smaller than him, and if he and Thorin could... And Dwalin must know as well, otherwise he would say no straight away...

The warrior closed the little distance between them, kissing Ori. Gently at first, but still more and more passion filled his kisses.

Ori’s heart was pounding, the butterflies in his stomach raising and fluttering with even the slightest of Dwalin’s touches... The warrior broke the kiss, carefully undoing the buttons on Ori’s shirt, his eyes never leaving the little dwarf’s. He did it slowly, oh so slowly... Almost like he wanted to torture him... But he was going to do it, he was going to make love to him... The though made Ori’s heart beat even faster. He kept imagining what it will feel like ever since Master Dwalin told him about it but right now he was sure it could only feel wonderfully, gloriously, marvellously, splendidly-

His shirt fell to the floor. Dwalin placed his hands on Ori’s hips and pulled him closer for another kiss. And then he withdrew again, looking at the little dwarf, daring him to continue. And Ori reached his shaky hands to Dwalin chest, unbuttoning the small buttons there, all the time nervous because Master Dwalin was watching his every move and he was standing in front of him bare-chested. Ori didn’t like it, in any moment it could remind the warrior of how slender he was and make him change his mind...

He pulled Dwalin’s shirt from his trousers and standing on tiptoes pulled it over his head. It fell next to his own. He was looking at the warrior’s chest, at the muscles... he buried his fingers in the hair that grew there, relishing their softness. He pressed his lips to Dwalin‘s throat and a light groan escaped the older dwarf’s lips.

Ori slid his hands onto Dwalin‘s stomach and then to his hips. He liked to lay his hands there for a moment before reaching to untie the trousers... It was a boundary line that only he was allowed to cross. He would ran his fingers over the hem while at the same time caressing the soft skin underneath it... The warrior‘s hot breath brushed his ear suddenly and Ori looked up.

Dwalin’s dark eyes were watching him before he kissed him again, tongue brushing Ori’s gently. And then his own trousers fell to the floor. He had never seen Dwalin do it, the warrior always distracted him somehow and before he knew it he was naked...

And when next time Dwalin pulled him closer, one hand around Ori’s waist, his other hand slid to the younger dwarf’s backside, caressing it. And Ori felt his knees giving up beneath him, they were shaking and couldn’t hold him even if he tried. But he didn’t, couldn’t...

He leaned against the warrior, letting him support his weight as well. He could feel Dwalin’s fingers on his skin, stroking places he had never touched before, his lips kissing him, their bodies pressed so closely together Ori could feel the warrior’s heartbeat, racing... He reached out his hands and grasped Dwalin’s arms, digging his nails into the flesh there as the warrior’s fingers caressed him still closer and closer to... He gasped, struggling for breath...

How could it possibly feel like this? He pressed his forehead against the warrior’s chest, still clutching his arms desperately. How could his body react so fervently to a mere touch? This was different from everything he had ever experienced before... The fire that always burnt him when Master Dwalin touched him had dissapeared and something else took its place...

He heard strange tapping and realized it had started to rain outside. From somewhere far away the sound of thunder reached them. The storm was coming...

He closed his eyes. He didn’t know what to expect now that the flames that always scorched his skin were gone... What did that mean? Dwalin kissed the top of his head. That’s right, Master Dwalin was here with him, he wouldn’t let anything harm him...

He tried to calm down. He felt as if he was floating, he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet at all, and his body moved slower now... He loosened the grasp on Dwalin’s arms and watched as his right hand moved slowly towards him... Almost as if he now consisted of something light and soft...

He looked at Dwalin to see if he noticed as well but the warrior just smiled and kissed him. His lips met Ori’s and it felt like white frost was slowly covering every single place Dwalin’s lips touched. But it didn’t feel cold, it didn’t hurt... it was wonderful... Dwalin was doing this to him, he had somehow quenched the fire that was inside him and replaced it with something white, cool and pure...

How did he do that?

Dwalin picked him up and laid him on the bed. It must have been easy because by then Ori was floating... The warrior laid on top of him. It was beautiful, he skin was so hot but Ori could soothe it with his fingers if the warrior so desired... Dwalin was delightfully heavy, keeping Ori in place, his weight no difficulty for Ori’s new body filled with soft white feathery things... Nothing was burning him, nothing was threatening to singe his heart...

He felt a little light-headed, too...

And all that time Dwalin was kissing his body, sending shivers through Ori, his hands wandering over his skin, drawing patterns into the white frost that covered him. He could do that, Ori was his, he could remove all the frost that so blissfully covered him and burn him instead, Ori wouldn’t mind...

Dwalin’s hand slipped under Ori’s knee and the warrior raised his leg, placing it on the small of his back, caressing its whole length. And Ori watched as the hand then moved to his backside again. He arched his back a little, reaching for Dwalin desperately, wrapping his arms around his neck again even though he was sure he was freezing Dwalin’s skin there and kissed him. But the warrior didn’t complain, their breaths mingled, moans escaping both their lips.

'You really want to...' Dwalin panted.

But Ori couldn’t stop now and he knew that neither could the warrior anymore. He gazed at Ori with eyes almost black and outside the thunder sounded again, closer this time. His Dwalin was like the tempest and he will endure it, so that another and more beautiful day could come. He kissed the warrior and Dwalin raised him from the bed, embracing him for a short moment before laying him on the bed again, this time on his belly.

Ori clutched the pillow, knowing what will come next. His heart was pounding frantically, it was the only part of his body that didn’t seem to notice that he was now controlled by gentler and softer forces that slowed down everything else.

He felt Dwalin’s tongue, hot and wet and then his finger. And even though he expected it, it was nothing like he imagined it would be. A silent cry escaped his lips but it wasn’t a cry of pain. It didn’t hurt at all, it was strange and new but it didn’t hurt. Ori buried his head into the pillow, grinding one of its corners between his teeth to stop himself from panting too loud. It was so embarrassing and yet the new sensation was so strong and wonderful...

He felt Dwalin leaning his head against his back for a moment, waiting for him to get used to it, reassuring himself Ori was all right and kissing him lightly before adding one more finger.

Ori breathed in sharply. Dwalin’s fingers started caressing him and the pillow in his mouth couldn’t stand a chance against his grip. He could hear the fabric tearing apart but didn’t care. Even if he tore it to little pieces it wouldn’t matter. All that mattered now was Master Dwalin and him, being as intimate as two beings could possibly be...

Dwalin fingers withdrew from him gently and his hands grasped Ori’d hips. Ori’s eyes flew open. He will do it now, Master Dwalin, Master Dwalin, Master Dwalin...

The moment the warrior entered him an immense heat spread through his body. It thawed all that pure frost that was covering him within seconds, leaving him drenched in sweat, and then it spread through him, burning everything that got into its way. And Ori knew he cried out... To feel Master Dwalin like this, he couldn’t help it... All the strength left him and he collapsed on the bed, Dwalin’s strong hands holding only his hips in place... It was exhilarating, intoxicating... it was divine... they were one now...

'Ori,' Dwalin’s voice reached him like an echo. He knew his cry startled the warrior, he will think he hurt him, he will want to stop... But Ori couldn’t answer, it was all he could do to breathe and get enough air into his lungs, so instead he reached for Dwalin’s hand that rested on his upper thigh and intertwined their fingers.

And he could feel the warrior relax a little, bending over and kissing his back again, his hands stroking Ori’s sides tenderly and affectionately. And slowly Ori’s breathing steadied and his grip on Dwalin’s fingers loosened.

And when next the warrior moved, Ori bit his pillow again and the storm outside reached the Hobbiton, raindrops collided with the window with fierce force, driven by wild wind. And in spite of their noise, Ori could hear Dwalin panting, whispering his name... It was the sweetest sound that existed in this world... 

He wanted to see him, he wanted to touch his strong warrior.

'My Dwalin,' he breathed hoarsely, turning his head to the side a little and Dwalin must have understood or perhaps he wanted the same thing because he withdrew from Ori, embracing and turning the little dwarf, sitting him on his lap with Ori’s legs around his hips. And slowly, carefully he entered him again. It was worse this time but Ori tried hard not to let it show. He bent down and kissed Dwalin and gasped almost at that instant. It was incredible, thrilling and exciting... to feel Master Dwalin inside and at the same time feel his lips caressing him too...

Dwalin was just as flushed as Ori, a thin layer of sweat covering his whole body... He liked it too and that made Ori gloriously happy... And with each new thrust the initial dull pain faded away and was replaced by pulsating quivers of thrill. The fire in his blood was blazing again and that was all right, that was familiar, that was the way it was supposed to be... Ori loved that feeling, he loved the way Master Dwalin’s thighs felt beneath him, the way their chests rubbed against each other slowly, deliciously, the way Dwalin’s pace seemed to speed up with every second... He felt all those things and much more, there were so many things to feel, to hear and see... He had his arms around Dwalin’s neck, panting feverishly, nuzzling the warrior’s beard with his lips...

Dwalin wrapped him closer to himself all of a sudden, his strong chest heaving and his hand closed around Ori‘s hardness. And Ori digged his fingers into his shoulders, scratching them... He almost fainted then, it was too much... He wanted to tell Dwalin to stop, but no words left his lips, only his frantic breath...

His whole body was shaking and burning; wherever Master Dwalin touched him he scorched his skin and there wasn‘t a place that he didn’t touch, that wasn't his to burn... And despite all that, Ori wanted more, he wanted his warrior to burn him like this and then soothe him with his cold kisses. Master Dwalin could do that, he knew how...

Ori was close now, he had experinced it so many times that he knew...

'I love you,' the warrior whispered and their eyes met. Dwalin’s pitch-black eyes were looking at him with as much love and affection as Ori felt for him... and then with one migthy thrust the warrior sent them both over the edge...

A soft white mist pushed away all the thougts about fire from Ori’s mind. He pressed his lips to Dwalin’s. He wasn’t going to let go this time. He wanted him to see it too. The white tender light that sent wave after wave of bliss through him, the light that made all the world disappear, leaving only the two of them...

He kept his lips on Dwalin‘s until there was no more strength left in him and he collapsed into Dwalin’s arms. And the warrior embraced him and as Ori whispered, 'I love you too', he felt truly happy. He raised and fell gently with the motion of Dwalin’s chest. And then the warrior laid him down carefully, curling next to him, one hand over Ori’s stomach.

Just before he got lost in sleep, Ori realized that the storm had passed...

Dwalin snuggled closer to him and Ori reached for his hand, kissing his fingertips lightly and tears of happiness filled his eyes again...

His cherished dream came true. And in the most unexpected of places...  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge and grateful thank you to all of you for reading this story and one superspecial thank you to sra_danvers for being the most awesome of all the awesome people ^^


End file.
